Whole New World
by JTrevizo
Summary: In a future world where the rangers are outlawed, clones of some original rangers are created in hopes of changing the path of a world ruled by tyranny. But can rangers who have no powers and no memories save themselves, let alone the Earth? MMPR ref only
1. History Lessons

12/6/08

From: Jeannine "Writing Machine" Trevizo - jtrevizo_

Subject: New story – Whole New World

Rating: PG13/T

Spoiler: Original PR only (no Turbo).

Disclaimer: Power Rangers belongs to Disney, which considering Disney's non-violence stance seems hypocritical, but who am I to judge?

Relationships: TBD

Author's Note: I know some of the science around cloning, and do not believe clones would be able to remember their previous selves, but I am making an exception in this story. Besides, they're rangers. Perhaps that change to their DNA makes it possible?

Summary: In a future world where the rangers are outlawed, clones of some original rangers are created in hopes of changing the path of a world ruled by tyranny. But can rangers who have no powers and no memories save themselves, let alone the Earth?

Hi all; something new from me, after what feels like forever. Of course, this is very much off the reservation for me (not rooting a series in something) so I hope that it is worth your time to read. A lot of this will be character study and a lot of group dynamics. I hope you enjoy, and now, to the story...

Whole New World

By Jeannine Trevizo

-x-

Chapter 1: History Lessons

The world had changed in the last 300 years.

Global warming had arrived, and the world had been forced to change. Water still ran. But not as it had before. And with less water, growing crops and raising livestock was harder. It had led to shortages, and with them, rationing. People waited in lines for water and food, getting only what was allotted to them based on the number of people they fed.

With the change in the weather had also come a change in power. Somewhere in those 300 years, the nations of the world had taken control as never before. Democracies died and dictatorships flourished. Then a world event that few remembered and none spoke of caused those governments to merge, creating one huge global government, with a world leader, who oversaw the populations of all of North, Central and South America. Other co-leaders of this conglomerate oversaw similarly vast stretches of Earth.

With this power structure, a new division that was as old as time gripped the planet in a vice like grip – poverty. Five percent of the population of the world held 95% of the wealth; the other 95% of the population scraped by with ever decreasing money, food, water and shelter.

Under this new world order, hope was slowly dying under the harder times and the continued pressure of the government to continue the upper class, the government's way of life.

Justice was limited. Whatever punishment that was deemed appropriate by law givers in the field was approved by the new government, and often harsh penalties were handed out for theft and vandalism. Prisons were the last place one wanted to end up, as some resembled nothing more than 20th century concentration camps. Death was actually a preferred sentence for more severe crimes, and in some cases, people opted for the death sentence over a slow death in the prisons.

But of all the crimes now on the global government's books, there was one small law enacted nearly 250 years before that had helped alter the world more than the average person would ever know.

Power Rangers had been outlawed. Anyone found wearing the armor of a ranger was subject to immediate execution by the global government.

No one remembered why.

Except a few in the global government that kept a special task force ready to hunt down and destroy rangers if even a whisper of their return on the planet was found credible.

Yet there were those that didn't believe that the world was as it should be; that the division of power, of wealth was wrong. And that somehow the ban on rangers was responsible for the global government's continued stranglehold on the world. And these "radicals", who hid in the shadows waited for the Rangers to return.

And then there were a few that were unwilling to just wait for the rangers to return… they were preparing to hasten it.

-x-

Six massive cylinders reaching seven feet high and two feet around stood behind the two people wearing stark white lab coats in bright contrast to the dark warehouse. They monitored the controls of the panels spaced before them. The highly advanced equipment had been stolen, piece by piece from manufacturers and businesses for nearly two years. A few dedicated technicians that knew the plans to build the genetic marvel taking up the floor of the decrepit and non-descript warehouse had done so in secrecy and with renewed hope.

This facility had been created only due to a chance finding. Nearly three year ago, a nearly demolished building had been uncovered on a hillside in a city near old Los Angeles. Inside, in a locked vault there had been found test tubes of raw DNA. Some had survived the seismic activity in the last 25 years that had nearly wiped all of what had been California off the map. And when other documents had been uncovered at the structure, the material in those tubes had been seen as more valuable than gold.

Through a secret network of believers, the test tubes had made their way to the hands of the two scientists who now watched as their labor was bearing fruit.

For the material salvaged in that vault had created the growing clones that now were nearly ready to be released.

"The sequence is nearly complete. They should be at their optimal age of 17 in less than a day," explained the woman, her light blond colored hair pulled up tight to her head as she flicked her gray eyes from the panels to her male colleague.

"Sarah, are you sure that they'll be ready?" asked the sandy haired man beside her.

She frowned at him and looked at the panels again.

"Samuel, we both know the incubation period. They're on target for release. What's your issue?"

He stared at her and then back at the six tubes, the forms of people hazily discernable within the liquid depths of the cylinders. He'd volunteered for this. He'd heard about the DNA, believed that they could do this, but now that they were on the verge…

"This will get us killed."

"But it could save the planet," Sarah hissed with determination. "Don't you want to save the fracking planet?"

"You know I do," he threw back bitingly, making her give him a glare. "But they don't have powers…"

"We don't know that…"

"Yeah, we do. They don't have armor, or any of the things that Power Rangers have had before they were outlawed. They'll be defenseless."

"But they were rangers. The first ones, from what we can gather," she insisted. "There has to be something about them that's special. That made them rangers in the first place."

Samuel didn't have an answer to that. In fact, that was what everyone was hoping for. That these teenaged Power Rangers would awaken from their 'creation slumber' and be able to go out and save the world from the Global Government that had enslaved the population under lies and laws.

Except that no one really knew what would happen once the cloned rangers came into the new world they'd been grown into.

"Will they know who they are?" Samuel asked in a quiet, cautious tone, his fears reflected in the words.

Sarah looked at him sadly, and then out at the incubating Power Rangers and slightly shook her head.

"I don't know."

-x-

Days had passed and finally an indicator that had stayed black and dead flared to life with a pulsing red light.

"Sarah!" Samuel screamed from where he was alone monitoring the panels.

The door to a closed off area of the warehouse flew open, and the woman in question rushed in, her arms hurriedly trying to pull on her jacket, even as her blond hair flew unbound behind her.

"How long?" she asked quickly as she slid into the chair beside him.

"A few minutes maybe…"

"Flip it."

Samuel nodded and with a flip of a switch, a timer began to sound through the warehouse. At each of the six tubes, lights and gages went wild. Then with a sound like an explosion, the tubes cracked open, releasing their occupants.

"Get the blankets!" Sarah yelled as she rushed into the cold floor of the warehouse, looking to see if they were alive…

She skidded to a halt next to the closest one to her, a dark haired male with Native American like features. She laid her fingers to his neck and felt the racing pulse beneath them and watched, amazed as the man below her tried to open his eyes.

"Stay still. We're helping you… just stay where you are."

With that she moved on to the others… a tiny white female with brunette hair; a plainly white male, with nearly jet black hair; an African American male and female, and an Asian male with black hair.

Six Power Rangers, Sarah though to herself, stunned. They were all alive and starting to come around as she and Samuel began to wrap them in the heavy wool blankets that had simply been waiting for this day.

Now it was only a matter of time.

-x-

Samuel and Sarah shepherded the six young people slowly across the freezing floor of the warehouse to the door leading to the private living area. They had a dorm set up for the rangers, having expected both men and women, it was split in half by a crude partition.

The two scientists lead each ranger to their respective bunk and tried not to stare in awe at the sight of them.

"Clothes?" remarked Sarah suddenly as she watched the pale brunette girl shiver under her blanket.

"Oh, yeah…" Samuel replied, running into the other part of the residential space to gather the clothes that had been waiting for this moment.

Clothes fitting them had been swiped from various places – stores, homes, etc. until they were clothed as befitting their ranks. That had been the one piece of information that had survived the years the DNA tubes had sat waiting; what color ranger they had been.

To keep track of who they were, pieces of those colored clothes had been procured for the rangers.

As Samuel handed the Native American looking male ranger his clothes, the man opened and closed his mouth several times, before finally stuttering out the first words spoken by any of the clones.

"Where… am I?" he asked, his long dark hair falling in his face.

"You're in a warehouse. You're safe here."

"Where is here?" asked the other dark haired Caucasian male, his hands bundled around the black, red and white clothing procured for him.

"You're on Earth. Do you remember Earth?" asked Sarah, hopeful that the ranger's memories would be back immediately, rather than either coming in slowly – or never, which was a possibility.

The slight female brunette nodded, and looked to her colleagues before asking sadly, "Who are we?"

"You are the resurrected Power Rangers," Samuel explained, surprised that they'd ask. "We created you with the saved DNA that was found at your previous home, your 'command center'?"

A few of the ranger clones looked puzzled at Samuel's comment before another of them asked another question.

"Why did you bring us here?" asked the African American female, the yellow blouse and jeans resting on her blanket covered lap.

"You're needed. Rangers have been outlawed for 250 years. Yet the buried history of your team is that you protected the planet from evil."

The six youths looked from the scientists to one another, blank looks filling their faces before a variety of undecipherable emotions passed across their faces, settling in their eyes. It was the look of understanding.

"You need rangers," spoke the dark haired Native American man again, his jaw set tightly suddenly.

"Yes, we do. And you six are our only hope."

-End Ch 1-

Sorry – it's a short chapter to set things up. Feedback is greatly desired to see if you're interested to see where this is going and to get constructive feedback on the ideas being started here. Thanks all – J.


	2. Do I Know You?

12/19/08

Spoiler: Original PR only (no Turbo).

Relationships: T/K friendship+.

Summary: The rangers learn more about themselves and the world they've been 'resurrected' into.

Hi all. So, I hope you all are ready for the second chapter… It will have more story and more interaction with the rangers as we start revving things up. And now, to the story. . .

-x-

Chapter 2: Do I Know You?

Days passed as the scientists helped the cloned rangers settle in. Showers and hot meals along with the clothes procured for them got them looking more human and healthy. Because of the cloning process, nails and hair had grown without check for years. For the four males, three had had their hair cut. The fourth had resisted, relenting in having it cut near shoulder length. The two females had not cut theirs as well, but made use of Sarah's razor to clean up other areas.

In this time as well, Sarah and Samuel had begun to give each of the rangers information about themselves. Names that had been on the labels of the tubes the DNA that created them as well as their ranger statistics, or as much as could be deciphered from the ruined 'command center'.

As they learned their names: Tommy, Jason, Zack, Kim, Aisha, Adam… they learned more about who their predecessors had been. The group actually consisted of two black rangers. Samuel, who had minored in history in school had learned from the underground historians how the rangers worked. Usually there was a blue ranger, but the DNA sample for the blue ranger, a Billy, had not survived the quakes. The only 6 vials of DNA that had survived were those of the 6 rangers before them, so they were forced to make do with the rangers they had.

With that, Adam had volunteered to change his colors, giving Zack all his black clothes and settling for white shirts and blue jeans.

Besides their names, Sarah, it seemed, had been formerly with the military, and prepared them with some standard military knowledge. Minor tactics and hand to hand. She quickly realized that Jason, Tommy and Adam took to the skills immediately, and pushed them to learn as much as they could.

Learning about rangers, about the new world around them and fighting skills took up most of their days. Samuel and Sarah made it very clear that they didn't know how long they could stay where they were, so it was imperative to use the time they did have wisely.

During one of Sarah's discussions on team tactics, the young man called Tommy looked around at the others in the room with him. He had learned their names, along with his own, but he didn't know them. Hell, he didn't know himself.

Yet he and the others were having what the two scientists called 'flashbacks'. Supposedly, they said, it was memories of their other selves from before the DNA was taken.

He'd remembered seeing himself in armor the color they had given him – white. But there had been dreams where he wore green. They confused him. And there were ones where he recalled the people with him. He saw faces, heard names.

Felt emotions.

He looked across the room at where the girl named Kim sat, listening to Sarah's lecture. Every time he looked at her, he felt… something. In his dreams, he saw her a lot. Images of them touching, laughing… kissing. Yet as powerful and wonderful as those memories seemed, some seemed… melancholy.

Those other memories seemed to always be darker; Images of her being hurt or of him feeling hurt… because of her? He hadn't had enough dreams to make sense of it. Still, he couldn't deny the connection he felt to her.

"Tommy?" asked Sarah, breaking the young man from his revere.

"Sorry Sarah. Just…"

She nodded. Neither she nor Samuel could fully understand what it would be like to be in a way, back from the dead, not knowing who you were but plagued with memories of your former life, somehow preserved in your DNA. Clones shouldn't actually remember their former lives, but it had been reasoned that the ranger powers had altered their DNA sequence to allow them to keep the knowledge up to the point the DNA was taken.

For all she and the others knew, these rangers had lived long and varied lives after the moment the DNA was taken, but for the clones, all they knew were the years up until their age now.

"Now, let's get back to this. The military has two core branches and one very covert group, that has the primary task of hunting down rangers. They will be the group you will need to be aware of…"

"How are we supposed to fight them?" asked Jason sincerely.

In the days since they had learned about themselves, the red ranger had shown his leadership, deferring occasionally to the white ranger, Tommy. But the fact was the two seemed able to work in unison. Sarah was not surprised by his question.

"The 'Center' will be providing you all with weapons and moving you to a more secure location until plans can be made to have you aid the organization in overthrowing the government."

"Is the government really the cause of the problem?" asked pink ranger Kim.

"I don't understand?"

"Just… I remember bad guys… not governments," she replied, and looked to the others for some kind of understanding, confirmation.

"You mean space aliens?" Samuel asked, now interested in the conversation.

"Yeah, I recall something that was…" started Zack, his eyes meeting Kim's in a show of solidarity.

"Rita," breathed Tommy and the others all looked at him in stunned silence.

"Rita Repulsa… I remember," added Jason quickly.

The others shared looks that verged on remembrance and fear. Most of them had been remembering each other and things that pertained to who they were. The ranger aspect, the villains that their previous selves had fought had yet to really permeate their 'flashbacks' or dreams. Obviously, Tommy had been seeing more of his ranger past than the rest of them.

Jason and Kim both looked at Tommy with renewed respect. They all expected to get more ranger memories as time went on, but Tommy was already remembering faster then all of them; and perhaps not in a healthy way.

-x-

Men and women, all dressed in severe dark uniforms sat in a circular room at a circular table. They were the leaders of this new world. Some had taken power by force, others through coercion and fear. All though knew that their lives were subject to one power above them; One that allowed them to exist.

They gathered there to go over their responsibilities and discuss any issues. Today had been a fairly short meeting. Food shortages in the South would require the North to increase production, lest the rationing become too deep.

"So, is there any new news to bring to the committee?" asked a older, tanned man, his balding head gleaming in the light of the room.

"The 'Center' has been talking," commented a thin woman with dark hair and eyes.

"Aren't they always?" interjected a dark man who tried to dismiss the woman, even as she turned the dark eyes to pierce his own.

"This is new. They say they've completed the plan," she insisted.

"Which plan?" asked an Asian man, sitting across from her.

"The resurrection."

Silence ruled the room for long seconds. Then it exploded into chaos before the man leading the group slammed his fist on the table, hushing the voices around him.

"It's impossible. Rangers have been extinct…"

"No longer," the woman insisted vigorously.

"We have to keep this from…" began the Asian man in a panic.

"If we know, it's too late," the dark skinned man stated matter of factly, his hands wringing as they laid on top of the polished table surface

"Then our only course is…"

"To find them and destroy them," announced the balding man, his voice confident. "I'll issue the order today to mobilize Global Black Force to locate all Center cells and known associates until they can ascertain the validity and whereabouts of any resurrected rangers."

With that, he stood and stormed out of the room, leaving the other leaders to watch him exit and wonder if their time of power and captivity was finally coming to an end.

-x-

Aisha and Kim had become closer as the weeks had gone on. Memories they both had started to share in the flashbacks had given them both a view of a former friendship between the two.

"So, you remember Adam from before, right?" Kim asked Aisha.

"I've seen him in flashbacks, I guess, and it looks and sounds like him. They're before the age we are now, so I guess it would have been before we were… rangers."

"What about the others?"

"You mean any of them specifically?" Aisha asked with an infectious smile.

"What do you mean?"

"I've seen how you look at Tommy."

"You're crazy," Kim deflected, although seemingly half heartedly.

"I have had flashbacks where you and he were, well you know… hot and heavy… so I bet you have too."

"So? That was our former selves. It doesn't mean it will be like that now. He doesn't even talk with me…"

Kim and Aisha quickly fell silent as the subject of the discussion walked past, talking quietly with Jason. Kim sighed and looked back at the Yellow Ranger with a frown.

"We have too many other things to worry about besides how I felt…" she started, and then revised her statement at a look from Aisha. "How I think I feel about Tommy now. We're being hunted and have to save the world, remember?"

"Yeah, but still…"

"Still nothing. My memories also have some pain involved with him… maybe being team mates is best. Besides, he has to say something to me first other than, 'let's train' or 'do you recall fighting Lord Zedd'."

Aisha sighed but shrugged. Tommy had taken a leader role, just as his former self had before. And with the stakes so high, and Samuel and Sarah's utter belief in them as some kind of saviors, it was hard not to expect Tommy to focus 100% on the task at hand, and not even consider romance.

-x-

The men had paired up on the practice mats provided to them by Sarah to practice their hand to hand. Almost all of them had started having flashbacks of martial arts training, except for Zack following Sarah's first training. Since then, the four had focused on remembering as much as they could, and sparring with one another was helping them remember.

Tommy and Jason had just finished a round of sparring, and stood together talking while Zack and Adam took their turn on the mats.

"Zack still isn't up to par with the rest of us, is he?" asked Tommy as he watched the African American barely dodge a leg sweep from Adam.

"If my memory flashes serve, he didn't have a martial arts background like you, me or Adam," Jason mentioned sincerely. Neither does Kim."

"She seems to be picking things up. I remember she had gymnastics training…" Tommy remarked, and then fell silent, his recent memories flooding his thoughts.

Jason's eyes flickered from where they had been half-heartedly watching Zack and Adam practice to settle on the person who had in a former life been his best friend. He had recalled a few moments of that friendship in flashes: the karate tournament, the arrival of the green ranger to the new team, the green candle, Tommy's return as the White Ranger before he left…

"How much of being a ranger do you remember?"

"Surprisingly, a lot. I've had memories of Rita, Zedd, putties… it all seems so real when I'm in the flashback. Here though… it's hard to believe it was real."

"What about the other Tommy's life?"

"What about it?"

"It's just… I remember being friends with Kim and Zack, before being a ranger. I remember meeting you after I was one, and you weren't… and I recall that we were good friends."

"So do I."

"What about the others here. Do you remember them?" Jason questioned, curious.

"Yeah, somewhat. Some people, like you… and Kim more than others. There's other people, other rangers too I remember. An Asian girl and a blond guy… I can't remember their names though. Those memories I guess aren't as clear when they come to me, maybe because they're not here. Hell, I don't know why I'm here."

With that, Tommy looked away, uncomfortable in where his memories were leading.

Suddenly the doors to the warehouse flew open with the sound of crunching metal and high explosives. Dark smoke billowed from the entry as loud voices could be heard moving from the other side of the warehouse door.

"This is Global Black Force! You are known to be harboring Power Rangers. Stand down or everyone in this building will be eradicated."

"Frack you!" screamed Sarah, as she turned to Samuel, pointing to the back of the warehouse. "Run!"

The teens looked surprised, but all instinctively moved to engage the incoming soldiers. Sarah put out a hand to stop Tommy, and shoved him away violently.

"No! You aren't ready for this - Samuel, get them out!"

Samuel watched as Sarah pulled a weapon from beneath a large table. He knew she had been military before escaping to the underground of the 'Center'. Without another look back, he waved his arm in the air and hurried the rangers to the living quarters of the warehouse.

Guns blazed as the Global Black Force entered the room, swarming in like a plague of locusts. Sarah returned fire, her weapons lighting up the room around her as she fought to give Samuel time to get the rangers out.

The rangers along with Samuel rushed across the warehouse floor and into the living quarters, Samuel directed Tommy and Jason to bar the door behind them, cutting off Sarah and the attacking force from their position. For the first time since their resurrection, Samuel guided the teens into a room where Sarah and Samuel stayed. Samuel moved aside a floor covering and a hatch was brought into view.

"Stay out of sight. Keep together. You'll figure things out as you go along."

Jason looked to Tommy for his take, and grimaced as Tommy nodded in agreement with Samuel. He quickly started down the rungs of the old metal ladder leading into the dark, only an occasional fading light bulb lighting the way.

"When you get out of the tunnel, you need to go South. We have a contact a few days from here. Their info is here."

A small scrap of fabric was pressed into Tommy's hand by Samuel as he shoved him towards the hatch, the last of the rangers to go. Outside in the main part of the warehouse, the gunfire had stopped, meaning… Samuel couldn't think of that, his responsibility was the rangers. As Tommy's head slipped beneath the hatch door, he quickly bolted it behind the rangers, throwing the rug back over it and running to the foot locker he kept his personal weapon in.

"Good luck rangers," he murmured softly as he turned to the door to face the onslaught coming towards him, preparing to die before letting the Global Black Force know that the rangers had escaped and were on the path to save everyone.

-End-

Again, please provide me with your thoughts on this, as this concept is pretty out there, and I want to make sure I'm not losing anyone with this… J.


	3. Hide and Seek ch 3a

3/19/09

Relationships: T/K... sort of.

Summary: The rangers are now on the run, without their contacts to the Center and without their powers.

Hi all. Due to some personal issues since December, I have not been focusing much on this. I am going to try and post smaller pieces in the hopes of moving this forward. So with the rangers on their own, how will they survive long enough to save the Earth? And now, to the story. . .

-x-

Chapter 3a: Hide and Seek

The tunnel that the six resurrected rangers found themselves in seemed to go on forever. The meager lighting made it hard to not walk into someone, so they tried to space themselves out as best they could. Jason continued to lead, his hand running lightly along the wall as he felt the tunnel as well as saw it.

Behind him, Kim and Aisha stumbled along together, hearing Adam and Zack's breathing behind them. The rough concrete abraded their palms as they refused to leave the safety of the walls. In the rear, Tommy had waited a bit, staring up at the locked hatch that had once lead to their only real home since their return. Now they had to figure out how to get where they needed to go and stay safe while doing it.

The men in the black uniforms had not hesitated to begin shooting the moment they entered the warehouse. Tommy didn't think that their circumstances would change now – they were being pursued, and they needed to evade capture long enough to get to their next safe house.

After what seemed forever, Jason saw pinpricks of light above him.

"I've got light," he cried out, prompting sighs of relief from his colleagues.

Finding the first metal rung, he slowly ascended the ladder built into the tunnel wall until he felt metal above him. Sliding his fingers around, he located the edge of the metal, and pushed hard at the edge. With a grinding sound, the metal moved until light began to flood down into the tunnel below.

Carefully poking his head out of the tunnel, Jason surveyed the landscape. The metal had been a manhole that had led them into a city street that was crammed with junk; trash, discarded vehicles, furniture… it was obvious that no one came here but to leave things behind.

It seemed safe enough.

He crawled out of the tunnel and then with a wave, the rest of the team exited the tunnel, with Tommy closing the cover as he got out.

"We need a place to stay out of sight while we figure out where to go next," Tommy said quickly, taking the lead once again as the group stood in the middle of the alley.

"It's too dangerous to try and find someone who would let us stay with them, and we have no money for lodging," Adam reminded him.

"Do you think there's places that might be empty of people, like a warehouse or abandoned building?" questioned Zack. "If we're in a ghetto, there usually is…"

"We don't know where we are…" Kim pointed out.

"Let's stick together and start looking. Considering the state of where we came out, I wouldn't be surprised if we find something pretty easily," Jason announced.

After murmured agreement, the six teens set off, staying to the alleys, checking for unlocked doors. In what seemed forever, they finally located a brick structure, perhaps a shop that had gone out of business that had the front windows smashed in. Using his long arms, Tommy reached around the window frame and unlocked the door.

Holding up a hand to make everyone wait, Tommy crept inside, surveying the place for any potential threat or other occupant. Finally finding no one, he returned to the door and waved everyone in. Locking the door behind them, the group began to wander through the building. As they walked though, the picked through broken furniture and stumbled upon a few useful items…

After a while, they all re-converged on a smaller room near the front door, but that was out of view of anyone just looking inside. Huddling around, they put together everything they'd found in the old shop. They'd scrounged up some meager supplies, including a dying gas lantern, some nearly empty water bottles and a couple of energy bar kind things. They quietly passed the water and food, taking a bit and handing it to the next person. Nervous half smiles and grasping hands allowed the six teens to feel a bit more at ease, considering their circumstances.

As they sat around together in the middle of room, they started to question what to do now that they were on their own in a completely foreign place. Nothing Sarah or Samuel had told them had prepared them for this.

"Where are we supposed to go?" Aisha asked, nibbling on her small piece of energy bar as slowly as she could.

"Samuel said we needed to go south. There's a contact a few days from here," Tommy replied seriously.

"Where exactly? It's not like we have a map…" complained Zack grumpily.

Tommy opened his hand to reveal the small scrap of fabric given to him by Samuel. Written in block letters was their contact's name and location; "James. 2 Valence St. Bakersfield."

Turning the scrap over, Tommy was unsurprised to find on the back a small map, crude in design but legible. He turned it to show to Zack who whistled lowly.

"I guess we do have a map."

"So what next then?" Kim asked, her eyes focused directly on Tommy. "Go out and ask someone for food, water and a vehicle to get us to where this James is?"

"In the morning, we can try and see if we can get some help. There has to be some kind of transportation around here…" suggested Jason, giving Kim a glare.

"Okay everyone, we'll address this all in the morning. Let's try to get some sleep; it's probably going to be a long day tomorrow. We can take shifts staying up and keeping an eye out for those special ops guys. I'll take first watch."

"Second," called Adam.

"Third," announced Jason.

With that, those who were not staying up tried to find comfortable places to sleep, with Kim and Aisha sitting next to each other against a wall, Adam off to Aisha's side and Jason and Zack to Kim's unoccupied side. Tommy shook his head slowly, visions of nodding off on the petite brunette's shoulder rising up in him from some distant past as he pulled away from the group to move to the door to keep an eye out for any threat to his team.

-x-

A dark haired man, standing at least six feet tall and sporting an imposing build stood behind a military vehicle as a dozen military personnel inspected the remains of the warehouse. Captain Laurence Dell of Global Black Force studied the heat signature screen before him. They had two dead Center cell members and no rangers.

He scuffed his black boot in the dust by the vehicle, raising a small cloud of it that clung to his all black military uniform. The Global Black Force was the elite of elite; their main tasks – protecting the chairmen and women of the Global Government and hunting rangers.

It had been 2 years since the last hunt. They had been tipped off that there was a cell in old Los Angeles that might have found rangers, but no rangers had been located.

Today though seemed a different matter.

Two of his men swore they had seen 6 youths with the Center man that lay dead inside the warehouse. The limited history taught to Global Black Forces was that rangers usually ranged from 15-20 years of age. For some reason they were always young. A team consisted of 5-7 rangers – they had seen 6 youths.

And if those stories were true, then perhaps he'd finally found his first real rangers.

Which meant he had to find them fast, or his career, the world as he knew it might be gone if he didn't.

-x-

The six rangers had slept as best they could in the abandoned store overnight. Now that day had arrived, they were hoping to go out and blend into the natives. If there were a lot of people, it would allow them some semblance of cover.

With morning they had come across a surprise; within the pockets of the clothes given to them were ration cards. Tommy could only assume that Samuel and Sarah had procured them for just such an event. However, there was still the part where they had to find a store or distribution center to get the food and water they needed to get to James, and they had to find out how they were going to get there.

Kim and Aisha had been picked to approach a few buildings to locate the place where they could use the ration cards at. Luckily, the two didn't radiate anything but polite, cute females, and by pretending they were lost and from out of the area, they had gotten the directions to the main grocery/distribution center fairly quickly.

Once they gathered the information, the group headed across the small town to the building indicated by the locals as the distribution bunker. Once they arrived, they realized why it was called a bunker – it looked more like a fortress than a modern grocery store. Barbed wire surrounded the actual building, which was simply a concrete slab. Men with guns patrolled the facility. A single straight line snaked along the fence to an entry into the building courtyard. They quickly found the end of the line and got into it. As they made their way towards the front, they kept an eye out for anyone looking strangely at them. Eventually though, they got to the front where they presented the cards. The military looking man sitting behind the table barely noticed them. He simply scanned the card and pointed them each down the row of tables situated in the courtyard. As they passed each table, they were handed the item being provided there; plastic boxes, water bottles, food items, toiletries.

Once they had all completed the line, they broke up into pairs and made their way separately to the store they had used the night before. Once secure in the building again, the group took out their items and sorted them, looking to see how much they had. Freeze dried ration kits were piled in one area, energy bars in a second, canned items in another and finally the few fresh items they'd received in the last. There were also four pint water bottles per person. Not a lot, but…

"The water should last us long enough to get where we need to go. The food…" Jason began, turning over a discolored apple kind of thing in his hand.

"More than enough, considering," insisted Tommy. "We should eat the fresh stuff now. The rest can come with us. We'll have to see if we can find something to pack it in besides the plastic boxes."

"Maybe there are some trash bags in the alley we could dump out," suggested Aisha.

Nodding, Tommy didn't particularly like the idea of reusing bags which had been filled with trash, but maybe they'd find something fairly clean. And the food was all sealed…

"Let's eat and get some sleep. Tomorrow we'll see if we can find a bus or something."

"I'll take the first watch tonight," Kim quickly volunteered.

Before Tommy or Jason could say anything, Aisha threw in her announcement to be second shift. Zack rounded off the three watches and Tommy sighed. It actually meant he'd have to try and sleep.

End chapter 3a


	4. Lost and Found ch 3b

7/1/09

Spoiler: Original PR only (no Turbo).

Disclaimer: Power Rangers belongs to Disney, which considering Disney's non-violence stance seems hypocritical, but who am I to judge?

Relationships: T/K.

-x-

Chapter 3b: Lost and Found

Trying to sleep the whole night through was proving impossible for Tommy. His head filled with visions of the last month in the warehouse. From the moment they'd been released from the cryo-chambers to now, being on the run. But mixed with that, the memories of his DNA donor kept pushing to the fore.

In his conversations with Jason and Adam, he knew that they all were having problems with memories from their previous selves. From what they could gather, the memories only went as far as a certain point; probably when the DNA they were created from had been taken. So they didn't remember certain things. Jason and Zack were missing tons of memories that Tommy and Adam had, so their DNA had to have been taken earlier. But the one thing all of them did recall was Tommy's connection with Kimberly.

Tonight was another one of those nights when past memories of him and Kim came to him; images of fights, of dates, kissing and crying. It was beyond confusing. He'd never kissed Kim yet he remembered how she felt, how she tasted. Images of her in bathing suits and tight spandex or flowing sun dresses filled his mind as his eyes were closed. Those thoughts, those memories overrode his own experiences, and his heartbeat sped up with the thoughts and feelings inspired by his past even as his former flame's copy sat feet from him.

There was no question in his mind that his previous self and the previous Kim had a relationship, but with everything they were dealing with now, being on the run, needing to figure how to be rangers and heroes, he wasn't sure it was something they should even consider looking into.

But he wasn't sure if he could fight it.

Even now, having given up sleep and sitting up and looking at her as she sat guard for the team, he found his current self subconsciously embracing those feelings. Sighing, he ran his hand across his face and levered himself up. With everyone else asleep, what better time would there be to discuss this with her…

Kimberly looked up from her position near the door to find Tommy pace to her side, his legs folding up so he could sit beside her. He gave her a slight smile and she couldn't help but respond. Her head swam and her heart thudded in her chest against her will with his nearness.

"Couldn't sleep again?"

"It's tough. A lot of memories, you know?"

She nodded.

"Are you okay otherwise? I know it's got to be stressful, everyone looking to you to know what to do, when you are in the same boat as the rest of us… lost in a time and place we don't know," Kim asked softly, her hand snaking out to touch his without conscious thought.

With the slight contact, Tommy's eyes flittered closed and a million images flashed behind his lids. He'd been tormented by these memories, knowing that the person beside him had them too, but unsure if they should be left in the past or brought up now…

"I get by. Knowing you… and Jase and the others understand helps."

Kim tried to smile, but it was lost in a sea of doubt.

"The others keep asking me what I'm going to do about you… I mean, well, us," Tommy added slowly, knowing that this was their chance to discuss the issue alone.

"And?"

"I don't know. There's so many feelings attached to my memories. I know our former selves loved one another. I just don't know if we…"

"Should follow them? If we're our own selves or just copies of them that are destined to repeat their mistakes, their lives…" Kim stated in a somewhat bitter fashion.

"What's the last thing you remember of her?" questioned Tommy seriously.

"She was leaving the team. You, I mean the other Tommy and the others had convinced her, me, to become a professional gymnast."

Tommy nodded. He had the same memories. Of course, when his mind focused on Kim's departure, he remembered her injury from the gymnastics accident that almost caused her to change her mind. How Zedd had gone after her and he'd rescued her because he couldn't live without her. Yet after all that, she'd still left and he'd let her go…

"Mine end a little after that. I was still with the team and you were in Florida… I remember missing you."

His admission made Kim's heart beat faster. Since they'd all been 'alive', their memories had been pushing to the fore. And the longer she was near Tommy, the more her current self was attracted to him. She realized that the memories she had weren't really hers, but the way he made her feel, physically, was only partially due to those feelings. The rest, well, biology was a force to reckon with on its own, since they were all aged in their teens…

"I wish I remembered that. I just remember…" Kim started, and then trailed off.

"What?" asked Tommy, automatically reaching a hand out to catch hers solidly in his grasp.

"I was afraid that if I left, I was going to lose everything that I loved."

Her stark admission caught him off guard, and Tommy gasped slightly as her doe brown eyes bore into his darker orbs. As their eyes locked, he felt as if the pieces they had – their old memories, their new bodies and that intangible thing called souls all merged at once. Past, current, future all melded, and with a sureness that he hadn't felt since being pulled from the cryo-chambers he knew who he was and what he wanted.

Tugging Kim's hand, he pulled her from her space at the door and without preamble kissed her softly but firmly on the lips.

After what seemed like an eternity, he pulled back, fearful of what he might find. What greeted him was a stunning smile on the face of the young woman whom he realized he loved, and that he'd always loved.

"That was nice," she said with a smirk before leaning into him to return the favor with another tender kiss.

Breaking apart a second time, Tommy smiled now, and then broke into a wide yawn. Kim smiled at that and stood up, pulling the former White Ranger up and walking to the far wall where Aisha slept. Leaning over, she nudged her friend's shoulder with a hand until the former Yellow Ranger woke up.

"Your shift."

Aisha nodded, her eyes glued to Tommy holding Kim's hand, or maybe it was the other way around. Either way, Aisha got up and moved to the door to take her turn guarding the team as Kim and Tommy sat down beside one another and shifted until Kim was nearly in his lap. Then for the first time since arriving in this strange time and place, Tommy was able to peacefully sleep.

-x-

When morning arrived, Tommy announced in a clear, assured voice that they needed to find a way to get to Bakersfield today. Splitting into two groups, they made their way back to the area they'd gotten food at and started to ask around for someone who might know of a way to get there. After a while, an older woman suggested they go to the fuel depot and look for a man called Dre, who had a flatbed truck he rented rides on.

Once they made their way to the depot, they found Dre, a dark skinned man, hanging out next to his truck. His clothes were torn in spots, but they were made of more durable materials; jeans, flannel, leather. Approaching carefully, Tommy and Jason started with introductions.

"I'm Tommy, this is Jason. We're looking for Dre…"

"You found him," he replied in a Southern drawl.

"We and our friends are looking for a way to Bakersfield. Perhaps you…"

"You get rations lately?"

Jason nodded worriedly. They hadn't got a lot and they still didn't know how far they had to go past Bakersfield to get more food and water.

"Half of what you've got," Dre stated firmly.

Tommy made a move as if he was going to balk, but Jason laid a hand on his arm to still him. Losing half their rations left would put them in a bind, but they needed the food less than the ride if they were ever going to find out what they needed to do to save themselves and Earth too.

"Okay."

Turning, Jason motioned to the others, who had overheard the exchange, and they quickly opened up the bags they'd scavenged and parsed out half of everything. Adam walked over with the second bag and handed it to Jason, who in turn handed it to Dre. Once he opened it and reviewed the contents, he nodded and waved towards the truck.

"Get in and we'll be off."

The group moved to the back of the vehicle, each member of the team getting on and finding a small space of the truck bed to sit on. Tommy watched the way Dre stared at Kim and Aisha as they climbed in the back of the truck with a dark look. Even without the rations, he guessed the guy would have given Kim and Aisha a lift. As it was, Tommy's protective instincts were in full force, especially since he and Kim had… well, started up. Again. But they needed to get to Bakersfield and getting into a fight with the guy over ogling the girls wouldn't help matters.

Once they were all in, Dre climbed behind the wheel and started for the road. It seemed to take forever to get where they were going. Besides driving along the mostly deserted highway, Dre stopped the truck several times along the way to put gas and water in it, as well as to pick up several more people, who crunched in with them in the back. At one point, Dre offered Kim, Aisha and another woman the chance to sit in the cab with him. None of them took his offer though.

After what seemed like a whole day, the truck passed a long battered sign for their destination. When the truck arrived in the city of Bakersfield, Dre drove to the center of town and let them pile out before quickly driving off.

"Where now?" asked Zack as he looked around what seemed a less than robust city, some of the buildings crumbling and boarded up.

"It looks residential. Based on the map," Tommy started, as he pulled out the cloth map and spread it over his hand as he and some of the others looked at it, "I would guess we go North for a mile until we see houses."

After a break to drink some of their water and eat a few ration bars, they headed out towards the North end of the downtown, walking past mostly deserted buildings and junked cars. Right as the sun was starting to set, they found themselves in the residential area they were looking for. Splitting up briefly, Zack and Adam hollered that they'd found the street name – Valencia.

Quickly, they'd set off down the street, scanning the dilapidated homes for the house number they were looking for. Finally, just as the streets were getting to dark to see, they found the house. It was a non descript ranch style home, but fairly well kept up compared to the others in the otherwise run down area.

Tentatively, the group moved towards the door. Knocking loudly, they all waited, but no one answered. Tommy exchanged nervous glances with Kim and Jason. If their contact was gone, like Sarah and Samuel, they had no way to know where to go and what to do.

Then the door suddenly opened, and Tommy jumped back, his arm whipping in front of Kim as the sudden movement startled him. An older man, well into his sixties swung the door open. His chiseled features were marred with wrinkles and steel grey hair. He looked at Tommy intently, and then at the others.

"Come in, quick. Close and lock the door behind you."

"Are you James?"

"I am."

Tommy motioned to the others, who slowly came into the home, Adam closing and locking the door behind them. The followed him through the entryway to a larger room filled with mismatched chairs and a threadbare sofa.

"Sorry about accommodations. It's not easy to find decent furniture these days," James explained as he levered himself in to an overstuffed armchair. Once he was seated, he waved at the others to do the same.

"You're a member of the Center, like Sarah and Samuel?" Jason asked pointedly as he sat in a hard wood chair and looked around the cluttered room, filled with knick knacks, old photos and dust.

"Indeed. I have been a member all my life."

"Why?" questioned Aisha, curious why anyone would put themselves into harms way at this James' age.

"Because my great-great-great grandparents were rangers."

There were stunned looks on everyone's faces. They'd never considered the idea that the original rangers they were cloned from would have had real lives after they had been rangers. The memories they had only had gone so far, and thinking past the end of those memories had never occurred to any of them.

"And you two look just like your picture," James said, turning away to an old wood box, where he proceeded to pull out an old, discolored photo, which he handed to Tommy.

Tommy tilted the picture so he and Kim could look at it where she sat beside him on the couch. It was clearly a picture of themselves; Kim and Tommy – except that it wasn't them, it was their previous selves.

And they were holding a baby.

-End-

Sorry for the LONG delay between chapters. I'll try to do better.


	5. On the Down Low

7/8/09

Disclaimer: Power Rangers belongs to Disney, which considering Disney's non-violence stance seems hypocritical, but who am I to judge?

Summary: The rangers have met their next Center contact, and he's provided them with a shocking admission.

Hi all. The Center contact has provided a few surprises and given the team a lot to think about. Will they be able to get their powers back and save everyone, including themselves? And now, to the story. . .

-x-

Chapter 4: On the Down Low

"That's us," breathed Kim in stunned disbelief, looking at the older versions of herself and Tommy along with the infant they held.

"Kim? Tommy?" Jason queried as he moved towards his friends, just as Tommy held the picture aloft for Jason to take from his nerveless hand.

Jason took the faded picture sealed in heavy plastic and stared at it. Indeed, it looked like Kim and Tommy with a baby cradled between them. They were at least ten years older then they were now, but the situation was obvious. It was only moments before Aisha was reaching for the picture, and then passed it to Zack and Adam to view as well.

"Married?" Tommy murmured, his eyes flicking meaningfully to Kim.

"The Oliver line has been around for centuries. Even when there wasn't a male born in a generation, the girls in the family always kept the name."

"What about the others? I mean the rest of us rangers," asked Adam as he handed the picture back to James.

"A few names survived for a while. I can't remember them though. There have been so many rangers and team since the beginning," James explained, sighing as he replaced the photo in the box.

"So you're a descendent of rangers. Is that why you're with the Center?" asked Tommy.

"For me, yes. For others, it is because they feel that the government has oppressed the populace since the destruction of the rangers. Not only do we fight to free the people of the tyranny here, but we want to restore the world as it was. There are those that fight, and there are those like me that are too old to fight – we keep the history of the rangers."

"So, you know why rangers are outlawed then?" asked Jason anxiously.

"Yes," James said with a sigh. "It was a dark time. People, cities, whole countries died. Rangers died. The world was on the brink of destruction."

"But how did we, I mean rangers in general become wanted criminals?" asked Adam thoughtfully.

"Because the rangers tried to save everyone."

"Huh?" nearly all the team said in unison.

"The planet was under global attack. Fiercer than anything the rangers had been up against before. The world governments were afraid, having lost so many people; deployed troops and weapons with little effect. The rangers came to them, pleading with them to hang back – let them try and save the Earth before they did anything foolish…" James recalled with sadness.

"What were they going to do?" questioned Aisha.

"They wanted to fire the nuclear arsenal into space, where they thought the attacking ships were located."

"Oh God," whispered Kim, her eyes widening.

"They were going to start a nuclear war?" Zack queried, stunned by the thought of such a violent action.

James shrugged. "They were frightened. Nothing they or the rangers had done had stopped the alien attacks. The world leaders thought the only way to destroy them was to use the 'big guns', so to speak. And the missiles were being aimed into space, not at the Earth's population."

"Did they fire the missiles?" asked Jason.

"No."

"The rangers convinced them not to?" Tommy questioned immediately, worried that this was what sent the rangers into exile – trying to not escalate the conflict, like Zordon had taught them.

"Not exactly," signed James. He looked at the young faces surrounding him, visions of his ancestors and their friends; the original rangers reborn.

The team all looked at him expectantly. Whatever happened, it had caused what was going on now, and without understanding it, there was no way to understand who they were fighting.

"The rangers asked for one last offensive against the invading army. And they did well. But they lost half the team in the battle. And they didn't kill the leader."

"Who was the leader?" Adam asked, curious.

"You should remember him, I think. He's called Lord Zedd."

There was stunned silence in the room, save for Kim and Aisha's gasps. Kim's eyes swung to Tommy, as did Adam and Aisha's; Those of the team who had memories of Zedd and his brutal mental and physical attacks on Tommy. If he had come back, looking to eliminate Earth and the rangers, due to the original team's continued defiance of him, then their previous selves were responsible…

"Zedd caused this," said Tommy darkly, feelings and images rushing up from his previous self's memories.

"Yes. He offered the world leaders a deal; the execution and banning of rangers on Earth for the ability to save the planet. He would be allowed to call the planet his, be given tribute and the like, but Earth would be spared destruction. They agreed."

"Our own governments…" whispered Aisha, aghast that the rangers could have been sold out like that by the people they were trying so hard to save and protect.

"The old world ended, and a new Global Government was created. There are regional leaders for the six parts of the world that meet and manage everything. And this Global Council reports to Zedd," James explained sadly.

"And they're the ones who murdered the original rangers who tried to help them," growled Tommy, as he got up angrily and paced the room. Jason was nearly there with him, but instead sat and watched as Kimberly got up and laid a hand on Tommy's arm, causing him to look at her, and his anger seemed to seep out of him.

"They are. They destroyed the rangers and everything to do with the power rangers' legacy here on Earth."

"So Angel Grove…" stammered Zack, realizing that the home he and the others remembered was the original home of the rangers on Earth.

"Isn't really there anymore," James replied, sending a wave of despair through the group. "Sure, there are shells of homes and buildings, but… they burned the place to the ground."

"But the command center…" Jason asked, sure that Zordon's haven for them couldn't be gone…

"Is still there, yes. That's where you all came from, obviously."

"The DNA we were copied from you mean," Aisha stated matter of factly.

"Yes, but within you is your original selves - the first rangers. And because of who you are, who you were, you can return to the Command Center and retrieve your powers!"

Another round of stunned silence filled the room. Sarah and Samuel had said they would get weapons, training and support from the others with the Center. But they'd never suggested that they could get their powers back.

"How?" breathed Tommy, shocked by this new turn of events.

"There should be back up morphers in the depths of the Command Center. They couldn't find it before, probably because no one that combed the ruins had ever held the power…" explained James.

"But we haven't either," complained Kim.

"You have – your DNA comes from when you held the power, so it's changed to show you held it. So any chamber in the Command Center sealed to only power rangers will be open to you."

"Wow," murmured Aisha, looking to Adam, and then the others. "We really can be power rangers? With all the weapons and everything?"

"Yes. But you need to get to Angel Grove, which may not be that simple. There's an old jeep in back I've used for general tasks that you can use to get there. However, I suggest you sleep here tonight and leave in the morning."

"Are you sure? We're being hunted… us being here could put you in danger," Adam commented, quite concerned.

"Which is what Oliver's deal with best," James said, giving a little grin at Tommy. "It's as safe as anywhere, and they'll take a while getting her and finding the place. For now though, a good night's sleep is what we all need. In the morning, I'll give you directions to Angel Grove, so you can get on your way to helping us all."

With that, the discussion seemed settled, and James slowly stood to help settle everyone in for the night.

-x-

Black armored vehicles rolled through the deserted interstate as Captain Laurence Dell of the Global Black Force and his men proceeded towards their quarry. After some severe beating, that smuggler Dre had given up that he'd taken six teens to downtown Bakersfield. The descriptions – three Caucasians - two men, one woman, two African-Americans – one man, one woman, and an Asian man match the teens from the warehouse raid.

Once in Bakersfield, his team would search the city for the youths. They could be anywhere, but more than likely they were hiding with another Center dissenter. It was bad enough having to put down the fools who persisted in believing that power rangers could save the planet and its people, but the idea that they has somehow recruited teens into believing they were rangers was outrageous.

He had a job to do, and these teens, whomever they were, really were a threat. Which he was well suited to dealing with.

The convoy passed a sign declaring Bakersfield in another 60 miles. It wouldn't be long now…

-x-

The group had taken up whatever space James had; the house wasn't big, so the girls were sharing the one spare bedroom, while the guys were sharing couches and floor space in the living room. Adam and Zack had crashed on the couches while Tommy and Jason stood watch. Tommy peered out the front window, Jason at his elbow.

"It was a lot to take in, huh?" asked Jason quietly as he looked past his old/new best friend out the window at the quiet street.

"To say the least," Tommy replied softly. "I'm still reeling with the idea that the power is still out there for us to tap into. Sarah and Samuel must not have know about it."

"I wasn't actually referring to the powers," Jason commented pointedly, as Tommy's head swiveled to pin his friend with a questioning glare.

"Jase…"

"So, you and Kim were married," said Jason with a smile.

"You mean our previous selves were married. I have to admit, I was just as surprised as all of you."

"Surprised? Really? I mean, it wasn't so shocking to me. Everyone knows how they felt about each other. All of us have some kinds of memories how they were together. And watching you both now, it's not surprising at all…"

"What do you mean by that?"

"You're with her here, now, aren't you? I saw the way you were when we woke up at the house before we came down here. It was like… you changed overnight. You were more relaxed, more confident. And you barely let her three feet away from you," Jason pointed out.

Tommy averted his gaze back outside. Things with Kim had just started to gel, and with the revelation that their other selves had been married, it had made him doubt what he, they were doing for a bit. But the way he had felt himself calm under Kim's hand earlier… he couldn't deny Jason's observations that he and Kim seemed made for one another.

"I wasn't aware anyone noticed…"

"Please," Jason nearly laughed. Zack, Adam and I have been talking about how you could just see the tension between you two. And this morning – poof, it was gone, replaced by a look or a gesture that screamed you two had resolved your issues."

"Everyone knows?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if Kim and Aisha were gossiping on how well you kiss right now."

"We only kissed twice!" Tommy started to sputter, then saw that Jason hadn't known about the kissing the previous evening, and his eyes widened.

"You have kissed her! I thought so. How was it?" Jason asked smugly.

"None of your business. Now why don't you do something useful like get some sleep or organize the food and water or something," Tommy nearly growled, much to Jason's amusement.

"Yes sir, leader, sir," he laughed and turned to the kitchen, leaving Tommy alone with his thoughts, which bounced between his worry at finding and getting their powers… back, sort of, to how much he wanted to be the one in the bedroom with Kimberly, with her body pressed up against his as they slept.

It was not going to be easy… either one of his dilemmas.

-x-

In the darkened Global Government Council chamber, the balding, tan man who led the Council moved to the platform installed at the far corner of the room. It was their link to he that held them hostage and let them rule. He watched as the space before him fogged and moved, an image starting to form in front of him like so much moving pictures projected on mist.

"My lord," stated the head of the Global Government Council as he knelt before the shimmering hologram image of the alien overlord whom he and his colleagues gained their power from.

"You have rouge power rangers on the loose," intoned the voice, ringing through the chamber, a silver covered finger stabbing towards him from high above.

"We… are uncertain of their identities my lord. However the Global Black Force is hunting them as we speak. If they truly are rangers, they will be destroyed."

"If they are not, you know the consequences."

The elder, balding man nodded and the image dissipated. Captain Dell had to find and destroy the rangers. If he didn't, the pact would be forfeit, and they would have only two options: death, or hope that the power rangers really were the salvation that the Center believed them to be.

-End ch 4-

Hey, a new chapter! I'm feeling a bit better about this story now and where it's going. Hopefully that's reflected in the writing and the nearly back to back updates. I just want to note that in this universe, the Command Center in Angel Grove never was replaced by other locations and Zordon was always with the team. Dimetria, Turbo, PRiS and the rest aren't canon here. Thanks – and as always, feedback is gratefully accepted. Ms. J.


	6. Once and Future Rangers

7/23/09

Summary: With the promise of regaining their powers, the team has to find the Command Center. And hope that they are up to the tasks before them.

Hi all. So we're getting into the meat here – the team needs their powers and they supposedly can get them back. But can they do it before the Black Global Force finds them? And now, to the story. . .

-x-

Chapter 5: Once and Future Rangers

As soon as the sun was just coming up, Tommy was dressed and moving, walking through the living room and waking everyone.

"Rise and shine. Everyone has ten minutes to get ready," he said as Jason, Adam and Zack threw off blankets and sleeping bags to look up at Tommy's rapidly moving form.

"What time is it?" complained Zack as he ran his hands over his face in his attempt to wake up.

"Early. Now get moving."

"Tommy, what's up? Why the rush?" Adam asked as he stood and threw on his blue shirt.

"I've just got a bad feeling, and I want to get on the road as soon as possible. Jase, go get Kim and Aisha. Zack, you and Adam get our rations from the fridge. I'll get our directions from James and we can go."

With that, Jason headed through the house to the bedroom Kim and Aisha were sharing and knocked on the door.

"Wait a minute," came Aisha's growl from the other side of the door, before she opened it slightly and poked her head out. "What?"

"We're heading out. You and Kim need to be ready in ten."

"Frack!" Kim swore, using the expletive she'd head Sarah use nearly daily the first few weeks they'd been 'back', living in the warehouse.

"Get moving. Tommy's already got us on the clock."

With that, Aisha shut the door as the two girls hurried to get ready while the guys did the same in the living room. People made quick runs to the bathroom while others got the supplies ready to go.

At the other bedroom, Tommy was waking James. The older man opened the door and saw the look of determination of Tommy's face. He gave a small grin. This young man was so like the stories he'd heard.

"James, I need those directions."

"So soon?" asked the old man, his dark eyes watching his recreated ancestor, removed from time.

"We've been here too long. We got a ride to downtown. If they track us that far…" Tommy explained and James nodded.

"Understood. Take the jeep back to the highway and go about 5 miles south, then cross West for another 40. The signs for Angel Grove are long gone from the freeway, but take the Riverside exit. Once you go that way, it's another 30 miles, and you can find it near Stone Valley. On the main streets, go South until you see the demarcation of building damage, and the city limits shouldn't be far from there then. You know where the Command Center is, yes?"

"I think it'll come back once we're in Angel Grove. Will you be okay?"

"I'll be fine, you just get moving. May the power protect you."

Tommy started for a moment at James' words, but then simply inclined his head and turned to join the others. James watched, somewhat sad yet proud as the young future rangers hurriedly gathered together and headed to the door, Jason with the car keys in hand. Tommy briefly stopped to talk with Adam, who had located an old map, which had local cities listed, even though it didn't show Angel Grove.

Once outside, the team had piled in the jeep, sitting as best they could in the vehicle. Jason had taken the driver's seat as Aisha, Adam and Zack piled in the back. With no more room left, Tommy and Kim had taken the passenger seat, with Kim sitting on Tommy's lap. Adam looked at the map, having gotten the directions from Tommy and gave Jason their first route – South to the freeway.

With a quick motion, Jason turned over the engine and jammed the gas, backing the jeep up and heading to the open road at a brisk clip. Tommy's need to get moving had pushed him to want to put as many miles between them and Bakersfield as fast as possible. They were on the freeway, leaving James' home far in the distance before very long.

They never knew that barely five minutes later the Black Global Force vehicles turned the corner to Valencia Street, and began their door to door hunt for the fugitive rangers.

-x-

The team had been driving for what felt hours. Freeways had turned to city streets, to lead them to what was somewhat familiar roads for most of them, and home for two of them.

"Stone Valley," murmured Aisha, looking to Adam and he nodded, noting the city limits sign.

Of everyone in the group, only the two of them had memories of Stone Valley. They knew that being here meant they were nearby Angel Grove where they and their friend and red ranger Rocky had lived. During the weeks in the warehouse, they had all tried to compare notes, see which of them remembered certain people, events and the like. Billy, Trini and Rocky all were names they recognized, although for Adam and Aisha, the memories of Rocky were well established compared to Trini and Billy, and vice versa for the others. As well, there were events that didn't match with them all. Zack and Jason had their memories stop at the time right before they were to leave for the Peace Conference. Kim's memories stopped before she was to leave for Florida and the Pan Global Games. While Tommy, Aisha and Adam's recollections stopped at some undetermined point shortly after Kim's memories stopped.

They hypothesized with Samuel and Sarah that whenever the DNA sample that had created them was taken was where their memories stopped.

Jason drove through the streets of Stone Valley, coming closer to the city limits of where Angel Grove would be. When they reached it, they were all taken aback. The sign for Angel Grove's city limits was painted over in black. And on the other side of the sign, what buildings were still standing were merely remains. As the group drove down the old streets, the shell of the city barely there, they couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the residents here. James hadn't elaborated and none of them had thought to ask, but when he'd said that the Global Government had destroyed Angel Grove because the rangers had lived there, none of them were prepared for this.

They continued through the streets, passing the skeleton of the high school, juice bar, park… all in ruins or nearly unrecognizable. The feeling of disconnect was strong in all of them. Their memories told them what they should be seeing, and the reality was so different, it felt as if they were on alien soil instead of home. Jason turned off the main roads through the city to head for the surrounding rural area to the desert where the Command Center would have stood in the crevices of the mountains bordering the town.

When they finally reached their destination, Jason parked the truck at the bottom of the mountains. Staring up, they all seemed to know where they needed to go – up. It meant a long climb ahead, but there was no other way of getting to their destination except on foot.

"How many times did we have to walk there?" Kim asked sullenly as she let Tommy help her out of the jeep and off his lap.

"Not that many. But enough to remember the way," Tommy remarked, laying a hand on her shoulder and getting her megawatt smile in return.

Grabbing the water and food, Zack passed it around so everyone could eat and drink before they tackled the rocky mountain. It seemed more hazardous than before. More debris and large crevices in the mountain face littered the mountain side. One wrong move climbing the hill could be a potentially fatal mistake. With that in mind, they teamed up, Adam with Aisha, Jason with Zack and Tommy with Kim as they half walked half climbed the mountain.

The sun was high overhead by the time they reached the top.

"That's the corner of one of the supports," said Jason, pointing to a jutting post. Moving closer, they realized that they had found the buried upper most part of the Command Center.

"All right!" exclaimed Zack as every one gave a momentary cheer at the discovery.

"Start looking for a way inside," urged Tommy.

Poking around the rubble, Kimberly and Tommy found the small shaft that seemed to possibly be to the ventilation system. With Zack and Jason's help, they were able to clear the entry and noted that they all might be able to fit.

"Me first – just in case," insisted Kim. "I'm the smallest and I can see if we can all fit, or if we need another way in."

With a soft kiss, Tommy handed Kim their only flash light, one James had put with the jeep. Moving to the vent, Kim tucked the flashlight in a pocket of her pants and sat on the ledge of the vent. Putting her feet inside, she took a deep breath and then let herself slide down the vent at what seemed to be a 25 degree angle.

It seemed like the slide took forever, but eventually Kim landed feet first inside the Command Center. As soon as she was sure she was standing on firm ground, she grabbed the flashlight and began to look around. She realized that she was in one of the hallways in the main level of the Command Center. And it was clear enough of debris that the team could come down.

"Everything's okay; the shaft looks big enough, so come on down."

One by one, they slid down the air shaft to meet Kim in the hallway. She pointed the flashlight to the ceiling, creating a small circle of light. Once they were all inside, they looked around, trying to get their bearings.

"Let's try this way," suggested Zack, as he pointed behind Kim towards what probably was West inside the structure.

With Kim leading, flashlight in hand, they followed closely, nearly on top of one another to stay close enough to the light that they could see… somewhat. When they hit another fork, Kim didn't wait for anyone to suggest which way. She immediately turned left, and within another 20 meters she was standing before a door with a security panel that looked oh so familiar.

"I think…" she began, before reaching to the panel.

Nothing happened, and she mentally cursed herself. There were no lights, which meant no power. Before she could ask, Tommy, Adam, Jason and Zack were moving forward towards the door. As she backed up and pointed the light at the crack between the two halves of the door, the guys slid their fingers into the groove and two pulled one way, while the others pulled opposite them. After a few tries, the door began to give, and finally with a huge effort, they got the door wide enough for them to slip through sideways.

As they entered the room, they all knew they'd found the chamber where Zordon and Alpha 5 had sent them on their missions. Where powers had been given and lost and where they'd seen Rita and Zedd's destruction on the city occur.

They were in the main chamber of the Command Center. And now all they had to do was see if there really was power left to tap into.

"We need lights and info. Everyone start looking around," Jason said, as he moved towards where he remembered the control panels to be, the room slightly illuminated by Ki's one flashlight shining off the ceiling.

As the team walked through the main room of the Command Center, it gave them all a sense of déjà vu. For Kim, she couldn't walk past one area where she remembered watching Tommy lay as his Green Ranger powers were stripped of him. Others passed where the viewing globe had been, which now was littered with shards of glass mixed with stone rubble. Against the one wall, they all turned to look to Zordon's warp – which stood empty and broken.

"Over here," called Zack urgently, as he and Jason pulled at a stack of concrete that had come from the partially caved in ceiling. As they all dug together, the first signs of damaged gold and red appeared.

"Oh my gosh! Alpha!" cried Kim, as Alpha 5's form was unearthed.

"Do you think he's operational?" asked Aisha hopefully.

"I don't know…" murmured Jason, as he looked at the dents and broken pieces of Alpha hanging together by stacks of circuitry.

"Man, we sure could use Billy's smarts about now," complained Zack as he and Adam started to try and piece together the circuitry of Alpha that spilled on the floor.

"Without his glasses, it would be a jumble," Kim remarked as she set the flashlight on one of the consoles and brushed aside dirt and gravel to find reams of print outs that had yellowed with time, which she sifted through as the others looked at her.

"Hey guys – I think we have light," announced Adam happily, as he flipped a switch he'd located in a wall panel near the door and emergency lights filled the room.

"Awesome! At least we can see now," Tommy said as he moved to look through the other buttons and lights the emergency power had turned on with the lights along the command console. Beside him, Kim turned off the flashlight to conserve the battery while she continued to look over the printouts.

Adam, Jason and Zack continued to try and patch wires and systems in Alpha while Kim, Tommy and Aisha looked over the console for any recording devises, or records of what had happened and how to get their powers and zords again.

Suddenly there was a spark in the direction of the team working on Alpha, and everyone turned to look.

"Rangers," came a warbling sound from Alpha's audio translation device and the team hurriedly huddled around the sentient robot.

"Alpha, you remember us?" Aisha asked, kneeling by the wobbly robot that had only been partially rebuilt.

"Of course. You were the first rangers."

Everyone broke out into grins at that. If Alpha knew who they were, that meant his memory might be fully intact.

"Alpha, we need your help. Where's Zordon?" Tommy asked, noting again the broken, hollowed out place their mentor had always resided in.

"When the last rangers… were gone," Alpha said, not using the term died, "the Command Center was attacked and the warp broken."

"So he's…" Kim whispered softly.

"He's gone," wheezed Alpha's voice box, and the whole group stopped as one.

Silence filled the room as they considered their task. They were even more alone now then that had been before. While they'd made it to the Command Center, their guidance by the team's mentor wasn't there for them. Whatever actions they would need to take to overthrow Zedd's control on the planet would have to come from them.

"What about the grid?" Adam asked anxiously.

"It still exists…"

"Can we access it? What bout morphers, zords?" Jason questioned, energized by the news about the grid still existing.

"In the depths of the mountain, Zordon stored the original powers," Alpha explained.

"Can we get to them? All we have right now is emergency power, and I doubt the lifts are in working shape," Zack queried.

"There is a ladder within the far right wall behind where the warp tube used to be. If you keep climbing, it will take you to the storage chamber."

"Jason, Adam, you come with me. Zack, can you, Kim and Aisha keep working here with Alpha and see if you can get the elevator working and find a way out of here once we do?" Tommy ordered, taking on his leader role in an instant.

"No prob boss man," said Zack.

"Be careful," Kim pleaded softly as she moved to Tommy, handing him the flashlight and then held his other hand tightly in hers.

"Will do Beautiful," he replied, and they both froze at his words. Kim's eyes filled with tears as memories rushed over her, and Tommy reached over to kiss Kim's lips lightly. Once he pulled away, he gave her a small smile. "See if you can get the elevator working for the trip back up."

Nodding, Kim watched as Tommy, Jason and Adam all moved to the doorway. The ladder down would take a while, if the powers really were as far down as Alpha made them seem to be. As soon as they were out of sight, Kim turned back to Zack and Aisha who were still knelt around Alpha.

"Alpha, where are the controls to the elevators?" she asked, thinking about her love and her friends climbing into the unknown.

-x-

After what seemed hours, and with a few places where a ladder rung or two had been missing, Tommy, Jason and Adam arrived in the starkly lit chamber at the bottom of the shaft. It was huge, and in the emergency lighting they could see metallic shapes. Six distinct shapes filled the cavernous space, and it didn't take any of them long to figure out what they were seeing - auxiliary zords.

"We've got zords!" Jason cried out ecstatically, thumping Tommy on the back, and then high-fiving Adam.

"What 'bout morphers? Tommy questioned, looking around the space before seeing doorways to an area in the wall behind them.

The three moved carefully to the huge room adjacent to the Zord storage area and found what could only be described as a vault. Inside, they walked the metal lined walls, and found large storage units built inside. They opened the compartments, finding spare communication equipment, food, water, laser guns…

"I found the morphers!" called out Adam, as he stood before one of the wall safes that had popped open at his touch and a metal slide had pushed from the wall to show six morphers lined up on the metal slab. But they were missing a key element - coins.

"We've got uniforms too," announced Jason, as he opened a set of doors at the far end of the room to find all six uniforms hung inside a wall rack.

Tommy smiled; zords, morphers and uniforms were all helpful. But without their power coins to connect them to the Morphin' grid, they weren't powered. Continuing to look through the room, Tommy laid eyes on a small square, safe like metal opening along the wall. He moved towards it and pressed his palm to it, hoping to pop it open like they had the other storage units. Instead, the metal glowed green, then white and nearly dissolved from his touch.

Inside the exposed space, there was simply a box. Yet as he started at it, Tommy realized that he knew this box. He recalled how he'd gotten this box; taking it from Goldar's hands as he retrieved the rangers ransomed power coins. He couldn't believe that possibly…

Reaching out, he put his hands on either side of it and eased it out. Then he gingerly opened the lid, and just like before, within the velvet confines of the box sat the power coins. But this time, there was an added one – his white ranger coin. It was as if Zordon had expected that one day they might need them again and left them here for them to find.

"Guys," Tommy said softly, but both Jason and Adam heard him, and turned to see Tommy holding up his coin.

"Yeah!" yelled Jason and Adam as one as they rushed to Tommy's side to look at the coins.

"Okay, we have our gear, now what?" Adam asked as he picked up the Blue Ranger triceratops coin with some trepidation.

"We find a way to get the zords out of here and get everyone together so we can connect to the grid again," explained Tommy.

"And then?" Jason questioned.

"And then we let Zedd know that his days are numbered," Tommy nearly growled.

Before either Jason or Adam could reply, they heard a sudden grinding sound and raced to the doorway of the vault to see huge hanger like doors begin to open at the far end of the zord chamber. The sun was setting and twilight could be seen. Just then the doors to the elevator opened, revealing the rest of the group.

"You asked for a lift?" joked Kim, as she, Zack and Aisha exited the restored elevator.

"Well, yeah. Climbing back up the ladder was not looking appealing at all," replied Tommy, and he smiled at Kimberly.

"You found our gear?" Aisha asked, as the new arrivals noted the zords in the bay behind them.

"Yup – we're all set," Adam said, moving to greet her.

"So, now what?" asked Zack as the team all circled around Tommy.

With that, Tommy handed the box to Zack, who looked in and saw the coins. Taking his, he handed the box around the circle until everyone had their coin. Adam, who had already gotten his had gone back into the vault and picked up the morphers and was handing them around. Once everyone had their equipment, Tommy gave them a tight smile.

"Alright everyone – time to suit up. It's time to give Zedd his wake-up call."

-x-

The populace of what had been Southern California were almost as one as they looked to the skies above them. Above them was a sight all of them had never seen. Some had heard rumors but the massive metal structure cutting through the sky hadn't been seen in centuries.

Silvered steel interplayed with white, pink, red, blue, yellow and black across the giant robot like ship. People pointed and gasped, others cowered in fear. And even more felt their hearts leap and skin tingle.

The Power Rangers had returned.

And with them… hope.

-End ch 5-

Hey! So the team is back, and now it's time to get Zedd out of the picture. But the Global Government might not be so supportive… Also, one slight acknowledgement to Shawn and Cheryl Roberts for their depictions of the hangar bay for the zords in numerous stories.


	7. Throwing the Gauntlet

8/2/09

Summary: Having regained their powers, the team has to come out of hiding to save the planet. But can they do that without the Global Government killing them before they can do so?

Hi all. Having re-established their connection to the Morphing Grid and gotten their powers back, will the team be able to save Earth? And now, to the story. . .

-x-

Chapter 6: Throwing the Gauntlet

Word quickly spread that the Power Rangers had been seen. The populace of what had been Southern California whispered among themselves where the rangers had come from as the story of the Ninjazord arcing across the sky moved from city to town to village across the state, across the Northern Hemisphere and beyond.

And with each new telling, as neighbor contacted neighbor and friends reached out to friends, the legend of Power Rangers was restored. The defenders of Earth had returned, and with their arrival, people wondered if perhaps the stories about them were true… that they would defeat the evil that had created their circumstances and that the Global Government would fall beneath them.

Of course, as the populace of Earth wondered these things, there were those who had to question in secret.

The members of the Center had risen up in joy with the news that the rangers had indeed returned, and began to work with their cells to plan support actions for the returned Power Rangers. They knew that there was a lot of work to be done to change the planet, and six teens, no matter their powers might not be ready to do that. They began to mobilize academics as well as soldiers, with the hope that once the battles were over, they could rebuild the world as it should have been – free and flourishing.

At the same time as the people and the Center operatives were adjusting to the news of the power ranger's return, so were the members of the Global Government beginning to fear for their power and their control. They were getting reports that the people were ready to support the return of the rangers, embrace them as liberators. This was unacceptable to the Global Government Council leaders. The people had no idea how dangerous the power ranger's return was. It was only they that knew Lord Zedd would destroy the planet to eradicate the rangers once and for all.

It was up to them to stop the rangers from destroying the delicate balance their forefathers had struck with the galactic villain they still were beholden to… before everyone suffered.

-x-

In a dark cell under the West Coast headquarters of the Global Government, the Black Global Force had just dragged an informant and member of the Center for "questioning". He'd been a lucky find after Captain Dell's forces had lost the Power Rangers in Bakersfield. But now he had someone alive that he could get the information he needed from.

He and the West Coast office's top interrogation technician walked into the cell and looked at the old man bound to the chair. Dark brown eyes aged by time glared angrily at him, but to Captain Dell, it meant nothing. He would break the man before him and get the secrets of the Center and the Power Ranger's locations, or else. He had little choice this time by to succeed.

"James Oliver, you are being held as a traitor for aiding and abetting known criminals and being a member of the seditious organization the Center. If you tell us now what we want to know, you will be spared further pain," Dell told him officiously.

"Bite me," spat James.

Dell sighed. Never had one of the Center ever cooperated with a Black Global Force investigation. He hadn't expected the older man to either, but he'd wanted to be fair and give the guy a chance. Obviously it didn't matter. He nodded to the forty-something interrogation tech he'd been given here in the West Coast office. The Asian man moved to where James Oliver was imprisoned in the chair.

Reaching behind the chair, he pulled two long wires and clipped them to Oliver's hands. Dell knew on the other end of the wires was a small portable generator, and with a simple flip of the switch the current that would normally power lights or computers would be redirected through the man strapped to the chair.

"Last chance," asked Dell as he nodded to the Asian tech that stood patiently behind Oliver, his hand on the generator's ignition switch.

James kept his mouth tightly shut, knowing he couldn't betray the rangers. They needed him to safe guard their whereabouts, their identities… it was what every Center operative took an oath to do. And even at his age he was determined to protect the secrets of the Center and the resurrected images of his ancestors.

"As you will. Chan…"

With those simple words, the tech behind Oliver pushed the switch and a stream of electricity coursed down the lines and through James' body, causing the older man to call out hoarsely, his body jerking in the chair for what seemed hours, but was in fact only half a minute before Chan clicked the switch off.

"Where is their base of operation?" Dell asked, watching Oliver twitch for a second before looking up and glaring at him.

"Somewhere you will never find it," replied James angrily.

Dell sighed and nodded to Chan. He flipped the switch again, sending the electricity through Oliver once again. When the current was shut off, Oliver was slightly slumped in the chair, and Dell moved closer to the man, wanting to make sure that he heard Oliver's answer.

"Alright Oliver. We can make this easy on you. Just answer the questions. Are the kids being sheltered by the Center?"

"No."

A small smile tugged at Dell's lips. Oliver might have just given a possibly straight answer. Perhaps two jolts had been enough to loosen his tongue. He needed to get the information he needed quickly, so he had no time to revel in the moment.

"What is their plan?"

There was a brief pause before James looked up and gave Captain Dell a dark grin.

"What do you think? They're gonna take you all down. And I hope to God I'm here to see you all burn," he boasted defiantly before sealing his lips again as he stared down the Global Force goon before him.

Instantly angry, Dell hauled off and slapped Oliver across the face, hard. The sound of the smack reverberated around the room, and James' head snapped back to face his attacker, blood running from the corner of his mouth. Infuriated, Dell raised his hand to strike again, but was stopped by the sound of his name. He turned and saw the cell door open and a member of the Global Council's war congress stood there.

"Captain Dell," said the Major standing in the open door, his uniform identifying him to Dell's eyes.

"Yes?"

"The council wants to see you."

That made Captain Dell pause. They knew he was running down leads. For them to be summoning him now…

"But the prisoner…"

"Can wait."

Frowning, Dell turned to Chan and indicated with a wave of his hand that they were stopping for now. Then he quickly turned and headed down the halls, following the Major as they made their way to the council's chamber. When they arrived, the Major waved Dell in, and closed the door behind them. Before them, the members of the Global Government Council sat before him around their circular table.

"Report," spoke the head of the council.

"Oliver has not said anything of use. The Power Rangers are still on the run, possibly without the aid of the Center's operatives."

"That's no longer of concern," commented the Asian man who controlled that part of the world.

"Sir?" asked Dell, stunned.

"Tracking the trajectory of the zord, the military has pinpointed the Power Rangers returned towards the city of Angel Grove," explained the thin, dark eyed woman who controlled half the Southern hemisphere.

"But, there's nothing there anymore."

"Perhaps. But it is the decision of the Council to be sure of that," the dark skinned man who was the thin woman's counterpart in control of the Southern hemisphere.

"Is that wise? Shouldn't the military be preparing to put down any uprising instigated by the Center's traitorous cells?"

Before anyone could respond, the holographic platform that served as the link between the Council and their overlord crackled to life. Everyone turned to see the image begin to coalesce before them, resolving into the figure of the alien who controlled their destinies… Lord Zedd.

"The Power Rangers have been sighted," he intoned, his voice filling the chamber.

"Yes my lord," the balding, tan man who led the Council replied nervously.

"You are to immediately annihilate Angel Grove city and destroy the rangers. Not a stone or plant must be left standing. If you do not, I will be forced to return with my forces to Earth. And in my army's… exuberance, people, cities, states… continents may come to an end. Remember, you exist by my benevolence alone. Do not fail."

Suddenly the connection was severed, and the Council members looked at one another in terror. They had to take action. If Lord Zedd sent his forces, there was no guarantee the planet, the people, would survive. And their lives would be forfeit for failing Lord Zedd.

"Captain Dell, you are hereby ordered to take a squadron of planes and bomb Angel Grove. You will also take as many ground forces as you can and go into the city to verify the deaths of these rangers," the head of the council demanded, pointing a demanding finger at the head of the Global Black Force.

"Yes Sir."

With that, Dell was running for the door, barking at the Major trailing behind him orders to activate the required military personnel to begin the attack immediately. He would not fail the Global Government Council… because there was no other option.

-x-

The Ninja Mega Falconzord landed outside the Command Center and the individual zords disengaged their locks so the team could pilot their zords back inside the docking bay. Once settled inside, they all made their way to the hangar floor.

"That was something else," commented Adam as he climbed from the blue wolf zord.

The whole team had been surprised which zords Zordon had left in the auxiliary bay. The original Dinozords had been transformed into the Thunderzords, which then were destroyed. When they saw the Ninjetti zords in the hangar for their use, it was for some of them like coming home.

When they had suited up, none of them had realized it, but when they'd walked to the zords to fire them up, it had been a revelation. Since a few of them had never piloted the zords assigned to them, there was a slight learning curve. Adam had helped Zack with the frog zord while Aisha assisted Jason with Rocky's ape. The rest just had to let their memories guide them.

"It was pretty cool," Kim affirmed, joining everyone in the center of the hangar bay as they gathered together to debrief from their initial journey in this new world in the Ninjazord.

"So we've declared ourselves… now what do we do? Wait for Zedd to make the first move?" questioned Jason, his arms crossing over his chest as he got serious, knowing that the team's appearance would start things moving and they had to be prepared.

"We see if Zedd is coming for us and then we go out there and send him packing," Tommy replied honestly, his tone brooking no argument.

"What about the Global Government? Will they be on Zedd's side still?" asked Aisha.

"They did outlaw the rangers in the first place," Zack recalled worriedly.

"That could mean we'll have to face both of them," Adam pointed out, looking to Tommy for his reaction.

"Then we deal with them both. For now, we need to get the Command Center up and fully running so we can get access to the Global Government's databases, so we know what they know and we can form a battle plan when Zedd shows up."

The team nodded in agreement, knowing that the one of their weaknesses was the lack of information they had about this time, and the power that the Global Government wielded. Turning towards the elevator, the team moved to make their way back to the main command center. Just as they were exiting the lift, an alarm suddenly sounded through the whole of the Command Center. Everyone looked around in panic as they instantly realized that their chance to figure out what their next step would be was gone.

-End ch 6-

Sorry for the cliffhanger. I've already started the next chapter, so hopefully I should have it done fairly soon. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated, as they tell me if you're enjoying the ride. Ms. J.


	8. Fighting the Good Fight

8/14/09

Disclaimer: Power Rangers belongs to Disney, which considering Disney's non-violence stance seems hypocritical, but who am I to judge?

Relationships: T/K.

Summary: A new wave of violence assaults the new team, but new and old allies come to their aid as an old enemy realizes his error.

Hi all. Our resurrected team has come out to the world, and things are heating up. Will the memories of past battles be enough to help the rangers save the day? And now, to the story…

Whole New World

By Jeannine Trevizo

-x-

Chapter 7: Fighting the Good Fight

"We're under attack!" yelled Jason, realizing what the alarm signified.

The team began moving rapidly, trying to find where they could see and identify just what was coming at them. They split up across the consoles Alpha was reviewing, looking at the images and data being displayed there.

"We have incoming! Looks like at least a squadron of planes, less than half a mile from the Command Center," announced Adam as he looked at the readings scrolling across one of the consoles.

"Is it Zedd?" questioned Aisha.

"No, I think it's the Global Government forces," Tommy replied tersely.

"How did they find us?" Kimberly wondered aloud, and everyone turned to regard her.

"Maybe they followed us back?" Aisha offered, and nearly everyone paled at the suggestion.

"We have to get to the zords and get out there now!" Zack insisted.

"What about the Command Center and the grid?" questioned Jason, worried that the Command Center and the morphing grid would be vulnerable once they left the base.

"Rangers, the Command Center is safe… With the reactivation of the Morphing Grid by all of you, the Command Center Force Field is back on line," explained Alpha, prompting a small sigh of relief from some of the group.

"Tommy, we need to get in the air and defend the Command Center," Kim suggested, moving to his side and laying a hand on his arm.

Looking down at her, he nodded, his eyes closing. They were the only two with zords that could fly. It would be their responsibility to take down or discourage the planes flying their way. It meant they would be in the most danger, but he had to trust that just the two of them were up to the task.

"Ai, yi yi – rangers, enemy vehicles coming from the North are making their way down Angel Grove's Main Street!" Alpha stated, startling everyone. Zack moved to look at the radar readings that Alpha had just announced and saw the new set of signals; a number of troops and vehicles were advancing on the ground. Now they had a fight on two fronts.

"Adam, Aisha, Jason and Zack engage the force coming down Main Street. Keep the ground forces from getting into the city center. If they get that far, it'll be easier to shell the Command Center," directed Tommy. "Let's go!"

The team rushed to the elevator and crammed inside, the last person in, Jason, pushing the button for the hangar bay. When they hit the ground, they ran to their zords. Kim and Tommy were parked next to each other and before he passed her, she caught his arm, making him swivel with his paused momentum.

"Kim?"

"Kiss for luck," she said quickly, pulling him close enough for her to lean up on tiptoes and kiss his lips briefly.

He kissed her back, wishing they had more time to enjoy this, but they had more urgent matters at hand. Pulling back, he patted her hand slightly before disengaging from her grasp.

"Be careful out there Beautiful," he said breathlessly.

"You too handsome," she replied.

Moments later they were all in the cockpits of their zords, firing up their thrusters. Tommy and Kim launched directly from the hangar bay, their falcon and crane zords flying out to engage the planes halfway into Angel Grove's air space. Using the piloting skill that they both had in their memories, they maneuvered around the planes advancing on the Command Center, using the lasers and rockets on their own vehicles to trim down the advancing squadron.

Right behind them, Aisha, Adam, Jason and Zack were moving the ground based zords out of the hangar bay. They headed to the city center, knowing the advancing army was coming from the North. Jason had paired them up – he and Aisha and Adam with Zack. It made the most amount of sense since Adam was most familiar with the Frog zord that Zack now piloted and could quickly provide technical support for him. In the same manner, Aisha remembered some special attacks of the ape zord that she said used to belong to Rocky, the Red Ranger who had followed him. If he couldn't figure out something, she'd be there to help.

Above the four ground zords, Kim and Tommy's Crane and Falconzords flew circles around the attacking planes. Maneuvers that had laid dormant in their previous selves' memories flew back to them with rapid fire intensity. It wasn't long until they'd gotten the fight down to somewhat fair. Still, the remaining planes were trying to line up on the mountains and the Command Center.

At the ground level Jason saw the first of the heavy infantry coming their way. A dozen large tanks were wheeling down the main street towards the old Angel Grove High School. Behind them were what seemed to be an endless stream of smaller support vehicles and infantry. These were people, Jason thought sullenly, and they were hunting them.

"Okay everyone, let's wait for them to show us what they've got," Jason said across the zords communication channel.

They didn't have long to wait as the first series of tanks fired an array of anti-tank, high explosive and anti-personnel rounds. They exploded around the zords, Zack and Aisha's zords taking a hit each, but with negligible damage.

Another round came at them, this time from the armored hum vee's behind the tanks; 50 caliber guns shot at the zords. Inside their zords, they heard the pinging sound of the munitions bouncing off the metal.

"Tommy, we're getting pounded down here. Do we have clearance to wade in and take them down?" Jason asked, deferring to Tommy as the team leader.

"Permission granted," Tommy replied seriously.

"You heard the man. Let's mix it up."

With that, Aisha drove her bear forward, and then as it faced the first line of tanks, she reared it up and let the front legs fall to crush a tank beneath them. Beside her, Jason's ape zord caught a lamp post and swung around it, using his hind feet to knock another tank through a ruined building and halfway across the city.

Zack used the frog zord tongue to wrap around one tank and he swung it around and sent is sailing over ten blocks away. Adam had leapt to the second row and caught a tank in his wolf zord's jaws and shook it, the plating and treads falling off until Adam dropped it back to the ground in a crashing thud.

The ape zord bounded with the bear zord, the two slamming a few more tanks from one side to the other, the frog and wolf zord bounded past them towards the hum vee style vehicles, knocking them aside. The ground infantry had broken up and moved to cover in the ruins of the city, firing anti-tank grenades and rockets at the zords, causing Zack to curse when his electrics sputtered for a minute after a near direct hit to his cockpit.

Both above and below, the fight was engaged, and Alpha watched inside the Command Center, nervously monitoring the zords and the number of enemy signals. Then suddenly on the ground, from behind the Global Government's forces a lesser group of vehicles and armor pinned the Global Government military between the ground zords and themselves. As some of the smaller vehicles and ground forces turned to face the new combatants, the other group started firing whatever they had: grenades, mortars and machine gun fire.

"Tommy, looks like we have an assist," said Jason over the com.

From his Falconzord, Tommy wheeled the vehicle in the air to see the group of armored vehicles and people coming into Angel Grove and behind the tanks of the Global Government forces.

"Okay, but be careful. If they fire at you, they're hostiles."

"Understood."

Knowing Jason had things under control, Tommy turned back to where Kim was dealing with the last three of the planes that were rapidly trying to head towards the Command Center with the commotion below and Tommy's distraction. She quickly put two out of commission, one of which caught flame and crashed by the old park. Tommy hurriedly swooped in and shot the tail off the last just as it dropped some munitions on the base, but he watched as it exploded harmlessly off the force field. The plane he's shot weaved in the air before plowing into the ground with a fiery explosion.

"Air attack is eliminated," Tommy announced over the com.

"All right!" yelled Zack from the frog zord. "Let's get these tanks outta here too!"

Following another offensive by the other military force behind them, the Global Government forces realized their precarious position and split up, taking off down opposite roads, retreating out of the city. They left behind more than half of their forces destroyed or dead on the streets of Angel Grove. With the crisis now averted, Tommy called a return to the Command Center. Once everyone had gotten back into the hangar bay, he took a status of the group.

"Everybody okay?" he asked looking over the weary faces of his team.

"Banged up a bit, but none of the zords seem to be badly damaged," replied Zack.

"So what was with the extra help out there?" Kim asked, perplexed.

"I don't know. But I'm going to find out," Tommy announced as he headed for the elevator, the rest of the team on his heels.

They'd all quickly made their way up to the Command Center main chamber where Alpha was monitoring the situation. Inside the room, they all converged on Alpha, who was moving excitedly, even in his banged and patched up state.

"Rangers! You're safe!" he said before moving on to his next news. "The Command Center took no damage. And there is an incoming communication."

Everyone looked around, surprised at this last bit of news. Adam and Aisha moved to the control panel that the communications were at and pulled up the signal.

"Tommy, the transmission is coming from someone who says they're with the Center," announced Adam, looking up from where he was standing with Alpha.

"Put it through."

There was a crackle of noise through the room, and then suddenly a voice spoke out.

"Power Rangers, my name is Lieutenant Thomas Jason Cranston. I'm the head of the Center resistance, and I'd like to offer my organization's full assistance to you to provide whatever support we can."

The team all looked at one another in stunned silence. In meeting Sarah, Samuel and James, they knew there was an overlying group that the Center comprised, but none of them had expected it to be this… organized. And the names… this man had Billy's last name and Tommy and Jason's first names.

"Lt. Cranston, I'm Tommy, the White Ranger. We're glad for whatever help you can provide, but we want to make sure that you're not putting your people in any unnecessary danger."

"Understood sir," said the older sounding man, and some of the teens couldn't help but laugh quietly. "I'm former Global Forces military, hence my rank. I have under me a variety of former military and other support staff ready and waiting to assist you."

Tommy turned towards Adam and made a slashing sign across his throat, and Adam recognized the sign and pushed a button so they could close off the audio on their end.

"Do we trust that they're who they say they are?" asked Tommy, glancing around at the others.

"I'd say yes. I'm betting that Billy was his ancestor. I mean, we know some of our family lines lived on. We already met James who told us he knew of some of them… there's no reason that he and the Center aren't legit," Jason insisted. "And we could use the technical assist… none of us really know how to repair any of this stuff."

"I think we can trust him," Kim said suddenly and the others looked at her with questioning faces. "I don't know. I just get the feeling we can."

"Open the line up again Adam. I'm going to invite them in," Tommy stated, and then waited for the crackle of sound to indicate they were transmitting. "We would appreciate any aid we can get. Some of the equipment here is a mess and we don't really have any technical people. We have the hangar doors for the zords open. If you come around the mountains until you reach it, a couple of our team will escort you and a handful of your people inside."

"We're on our way," replied Lt. Cranston.

-x-

After Zack and Jason had checked over the team of about ten techs and military personnel dressed in a hodgepodge of khaki uniforms, they'd all taken the elevator up to the main chamber of the Command Center. Exiting the elevator, the others fanned out to assess the technology that needed repair while Lt. Cranston moved directly to where Tommy stood in the center of the room in his White Ranger armor, sans the helmet. The team had all decided that they didn't want to waste a moment suiting up into their uniforms if they were attacked again, so they were all interspersed around the room, their helmets lined up across one of the non-working consoles.

"Sir," Lt. Cranston said, extending his hand in greeting.

Tommy shook it and stared at the man before him. He was middle aged with dark short hair and dark eyes; he was Caucasian but there was a trace of Asian in his features. It was the shape of his face though that reminded Tommy of Billy. He could almost imagine looking into blue eyes as he stared at Lt. Cranston. Once again, Tommy had to wonder what his parentage truly was.

"Excuse me, we were all wondering, you wouldn't by any chance claim Billy Cranston's as an ancestor?"

The man before him grinned, his dark eyes shining. Tommy thought that perhaps he was proud of being asked if he was related to an outlawed Power Ranger. Considering his role with the Center, he probably was.

"Yes sir. My family line includes two rangers. Billy Cranston and…"

"Trini Kwan," interjected Kim suddenly, as she moved to stand next to Tommy.

"Yes ma'am."

"You need to stop that," Tommy finally said, moving to lay a hand on the other man's shoulder. "You're way older than us. Please, if you have to, you can call us by our names or at least our ranger identities."

"Certainly sir… Tommy," he faltered, and then got back to business. "What can my team do for you?"

"First, we need to address the government's attack on us, and try to get them to let us help them by getting rid of Zedd. Is there any way we can do that?"

"Sir… sorry, Tommy, I would suggest communicating directly with the Global Government. I have reliable intelligence that they have been in contact with Lord Zedd, and no doubt he has threatened Earth's existence if you are not hunted down and killed. They should be informed that they need to support the Power Rangers, as you are our only hope of permanently removing the threat of Zedd," Lt. Cranston suggested.

The team all paled at Lt. Cranston's words. It was unbelievable that the government would be blackmailed by Zedd, but since they had lost the ranger team a few hundred years back and had to negotiate terms with Zedd, maybe they'd felt that they had no choice but to keep letting Zedd dictate to them. Of course there was always the possibility that the Global Government wanted things like they were, and Zedd's threat was the excuse…

"What would you propose?"

"I've brought with me some of the best technology people in the world. They can get you worldwide communication access so you can take your message to the populace, as well as the Global Government. What you may not know is that too much about why the government does what it does is cloaked in secrecy. The Power Rangers need to be above that. And once this is over, there are members of the Center who are still underground that can come in and help rehabilitate the governments and broken systems."

"Good, 'cause we have no idea what to do after we get rid of Lord Zedd," Jason added, as he and the rest of the team gathered around Tommy and Kim.

"Not a problem. The Power Rangers are the inspiration, the driving force behind the Center's principles. We have the people to make things right again with the governments. But I have to tell you, it's an honor to meet real rangers face to face. Many of our group never thought we'd see the day."

"Lieutenant, were you aware of the clone project we came from?" Adam asked suddenly, surprising the others as well as Lt. Cranston.

"Yes. When one of our teams found an anti-chamber for this facility, we'd though we'd found the Command Center. In reality, it was only a smaller, semi separate building, but it contained the DNA samples and information on the rangers they were from. A few of our scientists were tasked to head the cloning project. I think you might recall one of the team… Samuel Deacon?"

The rangers all nodded. They remembered Samuel all to well. Tommy still dreamed of seeing the man's face just as he locked them out in the escape tunnel as he prepared to face down the Black Global Force's soldiers.

"We have been waiting for nearly 300 hundred years for rangers to return. So when we realized we had Power Ranger DNA… it was decided to try and revive the Power Rangers. And here you are," Lt. Cranston said.

"Here we are," replied Tommy, his jaw tightening slightly before he relaxed again and turned to the techs and his team. "All right everyone, let's get to work."

-x-

Tommy stood before the projection system still dressed in his White Ranger uniform without this helmet. The team had discussed at length how he was going to address the world. Some had thought he should wear his helmet; keep his face off the airwaves, in case the battle with Zedd and the Global Government dragged out. Others had thought showing his face would display their humanness; that rangers were just like everyone else and were nothing to fear.

Finally Tommy had decided that he'd go ahead and show his face, noting to the others that they didn't have any direct family to target, so showing his face was simply being honest with the people.

"Communications up," announced Adam, where he and Lt. Cranston stood by the console rigged by the Center technicians that would allow Tommy to broadcast to the world.

"This is the White Ranger, leader of the Power Rangers," said Tommy as he looked into the transmission device that had been put together using the old Viewing Globe technology, but in reverse. "The Global Government has attacked us in the remnants of the city of Angel Grove in the futile attempt to destroy us. We want to make it clear however… no matter what they throw at us, we are not going anywhere."

The team watched anxiously as Tommy spoke to anyone with any kind of communication device – televisions, computers, video transmitters… Around the world, people gathered around what they had to see the first images of the Power Rangers and listened to what the White Ranger was saying.

And in the council chambers of the Global Government, the leaders of the regions watched the White Ranger's form projected on a large screen before them and nervously waited for his next words.

"The Power Rangers have one purpose – protecting the people of Earth. This is what we have always done. The government that outlawed rangers nearly 300 years ago was afraid. And since the loss of your protectors, the government has let Lord Zedd break and humble you. We're here to let you know that the Power Rangers have returned and that we will defeat Zedd. When we have, we look to the Global Government to disband, and to begin restoring freedoms and holding elections, allowing the people to rebuild and take control of their lives once more."

"Finally, we have a message for Lord Zedd; we remember you. *I* remember you," Tommy nearly growled out the last. "We are coming for you. You can leave now and never come back, or you can be destroyed. Your choice. Power Rangers out."

Adam cut off the transmission and the team all looked around at one another. The war had officially begun.

-x-

And in the outlying edge of the solar system Earth called a home, Lord Zedd screamed in fury.

-End-

Hey there all. I have probably at least 2-3 chapters left. I plan to keep pushing them out as best I can until this is done. Thanks – Ms. J.


	9. Accepting the Truth

8/28/09

Summary: The team waits for others around them to make their moves and sudden realizations abound.

Hi all. Our resurrected team has come out to the world, and things are heating up. Will the memories of past battles be enough to help the rangers save the day? And now, to the story…

-x-

Chapter 8: Accepting the Truth

In the circular room that held the leaders of the world, the crackling static of the view screen filled the air. The Power Rangers had announced their presence and intentions. And the Global Government was on their radar. Not surprisingly, since they had authorized the attacks on them and been hunting them down for weeks now.

But with the acknowledgement of the leader of their group that Zedd was their main foe, there perhaps was room to maneuver…

"What do we do?" asked the thin woman with the dark hair and eyes.

"Lord Zedd expects our cooperation…" stated the dark skinned man.

"What if he doesn't get it?"

Everyone turned and stared at the Asian man who had just suggested…

"We have been trying to kill the Power Rangers. Perhaps we simply ask his help as their technology is far greater than our own," he continued.

"I suppose…" the balding, tan man who led the Council replied, somewhat sullenly.

"And it will give us an excuse if he fails," the Asian man suggested, and the Council members all paused to consider it.

As they all looked at one another, they had to consider their own lives. They knew the Power Rangers and the Center wanted them removed once Zedd fell. Zedd was all that was technically keeping them in power – but if they could survive both Zedd and the Power Ranger's wraith by not really siding with either group… perhaps they could salvage something as important as their lives.

Finally the Council leader turned to call his assistant to him. The major moved to receive his orders.

"Recall Captain Dell and his team. We will no longer be hunting the Power Rangers," he announced, resulting in a gasp from the thin woman and surprised sounds from the major and the dark skinned man. "If Lord Zedd wishes them gone, we have found we cannot match their technology – it will be up to him to destroy them."

-x-

"So, we've made our case, now what?" Jason asked as he moved to flank Tommy following the broadcast.

"I don't know if the Global Government will come forward, but the people know why you're here at least," Lt. Cranston explained unenthusiastically.

"What about the Center's support? You said there were people still in the underground. Can they assist us with convincing the government to step aside?" questioned Tommy.

"Most of them are politicians ousted from power, legal minds, teachers, intellectuals… people that can rebuild the society. They won't venture forth until they know they can make a difference. They're waiting on people like my unit and the rangers to provide them that chance," Lt. Cranston said simply, not wanting the rangers to get their hopes up about additional assistance.

"So we are on our own essentially," complained Adam.

"My group and any of the other fighting units can keep the Global Government forces at bay. Beyond that…"

The rangers all looked at one another with expressions of mixed emotions. They had allies, had help, but in the end, they would have to win the war for anything to change.

"We're just waiting on Zedd," Tommy stated simply, acknowledging the fact that everything came down to their arch-villain in space.

"Do you think he knows we're here?" Kim queried the tone of her voice denoting something that Tommy disliked immensely – fear.

"I would think so," Lt. Cranston added quickly. "The Global Government Council has been in touch with him. I would expect that anything they know, he knows."

"So how soon till he shows up?" Zack wondered aloud.

"Depends… he used to use the moon as a base. With the planet under his control, he might not think he needs to be so close…" Tommy remarked.

"Then it might be a while till he gets here," suggested Aisha, interjecting her thoughts into the discussion.

"Well, if that's the case, we have some time to plan our next course of action," remarked Tommy, and the others instantly focused in on him, expecting him to start a strategy session.

Instead, before he could say anything, Lt. Cranston moved to Tommy's side, placing a hand on the White Ranger's shoulder, causing the younger man to turn.

"Sir… sorry, Tommy. I really don't know what your procedures are, but I would suggest that your team eat and catch some z's before anything else. If we do have some time, based on what information I have about your previous situation," Lt. Cranston said, his tone becoming sorrowful for a moment before he schooled it into a sense of normalcy, "my troops can monitor the situation and act as look outs. Once the base identifies Zedd's approach, we can let you know."

The team suddenly turned and looked to Tommy. It had been a while since they'd had any decent sleep when someone wasn't keeping guard. The idea that none of them would have to take a shift was very appealing. And they wanted to take advantage of it. Even Tommy wanted the chance to rest without worrying for a little while.

"Well, we could all use the rest. Lt. Cranston, the Command Center really wasn't built to house people besides the team. I'm not sure we have the space for all your people. Can you find someplace, here or outside that they can bunk and eat?"

"It's already in the works. The rest of my unit has started setting up a base of operations at the foot of the mountain. Anyone not working up here can shuttle back down to join the others."

"Sounds good. I think sleep first, and then we can eat with your people? Get to know them?" Tommy suggested much to Lt. Cranston's surprise.

"Certainly. We'd all be honored."

Moving to the control panels, Tommy stopped in front of Alpha, hoping that the robot knew everything about the base that they didn't.

"Alpha – are the ranger's personal rooms damaged?"

"Negative. The rooms are still usable."

A slight sigh escaped his lips. That meant that everyone had a bunk where they could sleep, and in private for that matter.

"Okay everyone, let's hit the hay," announced Tommy, causing the rangers to smile.

With that the team headed to the elevator, the six teens anxious to see what condition the personal rooms were in. When the elevator car stopped at the floor for the private chambers the rangers called home when not with their families, they carefully walked out into the dusty, debris scattered and dimly lit hallway. Emergency lights lit the corridor, Alpha probably deciding to conserve the power they had for more vital systems. Colors and names marked the doors… the names unfamiliar to them all as they belonged to the last ranger team to have been headquartered here. But they still remembered their colors and the rooms.

Kim and Tommy stood and watched the others make their way to their rooms, everyone looking forward to the private time as well as the sleep. But after doors closed, they were both still standing there in the corridor, and Tommy turned to Kim, a questioning look on his face.

"Kim?"

"I'm not used to sleeping alone… well, you know," she said, and he did understand.

Ever since they woke up from the cryogenic tubes, they'd either been in the same warehouse sleeping area or huddled together on the run. Kim could have asked Aisha to share the room, like they had at James', but instead she was coming to him.

Not like he minded. They'd had precious few moments to share with one another since they'd both accepted the feelings within them as real and not just a by-product of their genetics. The thought of curling beside her on a real bed made his heart flutter a bit in his chest. All the things he felt for her were tempered by the situation they were in; but this small thing, letting her sleep in the same room with him was enough to placate his desire to be with her – for now.

"Yeah. Come on," he said finally, moving to the room tagged white on the door. He remembered when it was tagged green… but that was so long ago…

Pushing the door open, they found the room in similar condition as the corridor outside. But in the center of the room was the double bed that graced every ranger room. It was covered with dirt and dust, but it was there.

Taking the sheets and covers off the bed, the two of them shook them out, removing the dust and debris. Once cleared, they replaced the covers and Tommy sat and pulled off his shoes at the end of the bed. Kim stood over him for a moment before he looked up at her face; the look of worry shown through her eyes like a neon sign.

"I hate him," she said finally, and Tommy reached up to wrap his arms around her, pulling her to the bed and into his embrace. "Everything he did to you…"

"Everything he did to us," he argued, memories of Zedd's crimes against both of them crystallizing in his mind as they spoke of him. Targeting Tommy for violence, kidnapping Kim… neither of them had fond memories of the alien lord.

"I'm just afraid that he's going to hurt you."

"He won't. We got through it before, we can again," Tommy insisted, leaning to kiss Kim briefly and softly on the lips. "There's nothing we can do about it right now. Let's try and get some sleep, okay?"

She nodded, leaning in to kiss him again before she pulled back to ease out of his arms so she could remove her shoes. Tommy crawled up the bed to lie on his side. Kim climbed on from the opposite side and then wiggled backwards until she was pressed against Tommy's chest. His arm wrapped around her as they found comfort in just being together like that and they slowly settled in to sleep.

-x-

Lt. Cranston was having his team rotate shifts as the night wore on. They'd all been through a lot in the last week, and he wanted to make sure they all were able to rest and relax some, even with the future battles ahead.

Once Sarah and Samuel had been killed, the warehouse compromised, and the rangers forced to go on the run, he'd hurriedly gathered the military cells of the Center to locate the rangers and provide them support. Now that they were here, in the actual Command Center and he'd been in their presence, spoken with them, he'd finally realized just what Sarah had died for.

No one knew that they'd had a relationship. Or that he'd assigned her to support Samuel at the warehouse, knowing that her skills as a soldier would be necessary to help the rangers not only get up to speed with their fighting skills but to protect them until they were ready to resume their roles. He'd never thought that by asking her to take the job he was signing her death sentence.

After they'd found out about the Black Global Force raid, he'd been devastated by the loss, but had done his best to push it aside. The rangers were unaccounted for, and he knew that she must have helped them escape, by trading her life and Samuel's for them.

He'd actually been somewhat resentful of that fact. His ancestors were rangers, yes, but that didn't mean much except that he now had a duty to be a member, a leader for the Center. And he had a responsibility to help these resurrected rangers.

But when he'd finally seen them in action, met them face to face…these teen… no, he reminded himself forcefully, these rangers were like no one he'd ever seen before. It was truly as if the stories passed down through his family were validated. These strong young people were Power Rangers in every sense of the myths that were told about them. And here he was, helping them, and in doing so, maybe saving the whole world in the process.

And he knew now that Sarah would have willingly sacrificed herself to save them, having been with them for much longer than he, and even now he'd be willing to throw himself on a grenade to keep them safe. They were hope in human form; Guardians of Earth and the people who lived their. Even without understanding the circumstances they were in, there had been no reservation, no questioning of what they had to do. They simply were Power Rangers and their duty was clear.

It was amazing.

Sighing lightly, he indicated for one of his mean to take over the watch and moved to find a spot to lie out in on the command room floor, not wanting to be more than two steps away from the monitors… just in case.

-x-

"Ai yi yi!" exclaimed Alpha, bringing Lt. Cranston fully alert from where he'd been dozing near the ruins of Zordon's warp tube.

"What is it?" he asked quickly, jumping from his prone position to look over the robot's shoulder at the monitor.

"Sir, we have a large moving object coming into the orbit of the moon," said one of his people, checking the radar.

"Sound the alarm!" Lt. Cranston said suddenly, and Alpha pushed a button causing the whole facility to flood with red light and an air horn like siren to go off.

"I guess it's time to wake them up," Lt. Cranston said sorrowfully as he watched the incoming object as it grew closer to the Earth's orbit.

Lord Zedd had arrived.

-End Ch 8-

All right, so last chapter I had 5 reviews… if you're still reading out there and want to let me know by leaving a little comment or some feedback, I'd greatly appreciate it. Ms. J.


	10. Taking out the Trash

9/23/09

Summary: The showdown has arrived: Lord Zedd is rapidly approaching Earth, and it's now up to the new/old rangers to stop him and in doing so, rip away his stranglehold over the Global Government. But where their predecessors (themselves) have failed in the past, can they succeed?

Hi all. Our resurrected team has come out to the world, and things are heating up. Will the memories of past battles be enough to help the rangers save the day? And now, to the story…

-x-

Chapter 9: Taking out the Trash

The blaring alarm resonated throughout the Command Center, jolting the rangers awake from their rest. Hurriedly they threw on their shoes and ran for the elevator. They all arrived at nearly the same time, Jason giving Tommy a look as he noted him and Kim coming out of the same room. But any kidding had to be tabled for now.

As the door to the elevator opened at the main command level, the teens piled out to find Lt. Cranston already there, his face a mixture of anxiety and hope.

"The sensors picked the ship up just on the other side of the moon," he explained, moving to intercept Tommy.

"Just one?" questioned Tommy as he let Lt. Cranston guide him to the console where the radar screen resided.

"Yes, but…"

As Lt. Cranston trailed off, Tommy and the others crowded around the radar monitor and realized just why one ship was enough to worry about.

The one ship Lord Zedd was returning to Earth with was huge. While it was dwarfed by the moon, it still was obvious that the ship was at least three times the size of the MegaNinjazord, which meant any variety of things. Most likely that there were other support ships within the monstrosity headed their way, and more than likely they were all armed.

But until they got up there and engaged Zedd, they didn't have a clue as to what they were really up against.

"Everyone head to the hangar bay and suit up. We're heading for space in ten minutes," Tommy announced, resulting in the Center forces looking nervously at the team of rangers in their midst.

"Tommy, are you sure you're ready to do this?" Lt. Cranston asked, worried that the White Ranger had not even made any kind of battle plan before directing his team to their zords.

"There's no time to make elaborate plans," Tommy remarked, his tone clipped.

"Besides, we don't have any idea what Zedd's capable of now," Jason added, supporting his friend and leaders' decision.

"We'll do what we need to. Just be prepared to get your people in place once Zedd is gone," Adam insisted, following his fellow rangers lead.

"How will we know you've succeeded?" Lt. Cranston questioned seriously.

"There will be one ship left on the radar screen… ours," Tommy answered, his tone deadly. "All right everyone, let's get in the air."

With that, the six teens headed to the elevator, heading back down past the residential floor they'd been in less than twenty minutes before, and into the bottom of the mountain where the hangar bay was hidden. Exiting the elevator, Kimberly was out first, hitting the button along the wall to start the hangar bay doors opening.

"Once we're outside, we'll shift to MegaNinjazord mode and head to space," Tommy stated as they all rushed to their ships.

Just before they climbed in, there was a chorus of morphing calls, armoring up the rangers in their uniforms. Now attired for their journey and combat, they fired up their zords and exited the hangar bay. Outside, the zords started the process to merge their vehicles into the one large machine that they would use to fly them through the atmosphere and head off Zedd's ship.

"Aisha, ignition," Tommy commanded as he reached the main control room of the MegaNinjazord after having docked last.

"Blasting off now, oh fearless leader," she quipped back, Tommy and the others smiling a little at the levity that they sorely needed as they launched into space to tackle the villain that caused the death of the rangers and the subjugation of their world.

-x-

Those members of the team that remembered Zedd recalled his ship; the lithe red vehicle, Serpentera. But what greeted them surprised them all. Zedd had changed Serpentera significantly – it was now a larger, less mobile vehicle. More like a dragon than a snake, thought Tommy as he looked at the nearly black, bulky but still sinuous vehicle.

"That's a big ship," murmured Aisha from her seat in the MegaNinjazord.

"It is. Which begs the question, what's the firepower in that thing?" questioned Zack, a spike of worry coloring his voice.

"I don't think we really want to know," stated Kim with an unseen look to the Black Ranger.

"But we're gonna find out," Jason said quickly as the proximity alarms within the MegaNinjazord began to chime.

"Do you think he knows we're here yet?" Adam asked as they closed the distance between them and Zedd's ship.

Suddenly they watched as the front of the 'dragon' opened its mouth and what looked like two dozen ships, half the size of their zords raced out, lasers firing at them.

"I'll take that as a yes," remarked Tommy curtly, before he slammed his hands on the MegaNinjazord's controls. "Jason, prepare return fire. Adam, try jamming their frequencies so they can't communicate with one another or Zedd. Aisha, I need everything you've got for maneuverability. Kim, monitor our shields and let me know when we get too close to the red. Zack, route the power to thruster and weapons and coordinate with Kim and Aisha."

Given their assignments, the team dove into their work as Jason and Tommy focused on fighting the smaller ships pummeling the MegaNinjazord with their laser blasts. Their smaller size gave them better maneuverability, and Jason was having a hard time shooting them down wile the MegaNinjazord was rocked by repeated laser fire.

The pummeling they were getting was wearing on the shields, and Kim knew they had to change their tactics.

"Tommy, Jase… we need to reduce the hits we're taking or we're never getting close enough to Zedd's ship to take him down," Kim stated.

"Tommy, I think you're going to have to split off and try to take on some of the smaller ships," Jason remarked as they continued to try to avoid while shooting down the attacking vehicles.

"Will you guys be okay?" he responded, his eyes flicking to Kim even though he knew she couldn't see them behind his visor.

"We'll give Zedd hell," growled Kim in response to his question and the look she instinctively knew he was directing her way.

"You guys take over," Tommy announced as he hurried to get up and out of the command room and to his own ship. Kim switched seats to take the controls while Adam routed the shield controls from Kim's station to add to his tasks at the communications station.

Kim's similar piloting skills for airborne zords had made her the best replacement for Tommy, leaving Jason the task of having to try and bring down the ships trying to destroy them. There was a sudden crunch of metal, and the team knew Tommy had undocked from the Ninjazord. Before them, the white and silver visage of Tommy's Falconzord rushed past the 'windshield' of the Ninjazord, Tommy's lasers firing at the clusters of advancing ships.

Pinned between the Falconzord and the Ninjazord, Zedd's ships found themselves quickly boxed in. They split up, forcing Tommy to follow half of them, leaving Jason to shoot down the rest. Meanwhile, Zedd's main ship hovered over the space battlefield, as if waiting for its moment to strike.

"Tommy, we need to take the fight directly to Zedd," Kim complained as she banked the Ninjazord left and out of the path of a series of laser fire.

"Then let's clear the distraction," he replied tensely, "Jase, drive them towards Zedd's ship… we'll see if we can get them to sacrifice themselves for Zedd's command ship."

"Got it!"

Both the Falconzord and the Ninjazord kept after the ships, their shields taking hit after hit in their quest to destroy them all. At one point, Tommy's zord started to tumble as a stabilizer in one wing was damaged before he could get control and redirect power from the opposite side. Aisha and Zack had done everything tey could to keep the power levels in the black and had engaged the fire extinguishers in the right foot and left arm of the Ninjazord when laser strikes caught the ship on fire.

Finally they brought down the last of the fighters. With the last ship destroyed, Tommy opened up his comm. and directed his comments to Adam. "Open all channels – I want Zedd to acknowledge us…"

White noise filled the comm. before a voice that over half the team recognized, and two of them held in dread.

"Tommy – it's been so long… welcome back… to your death."

The team held their collective breath as memories for those who had faced Zedd before were dredged up with the sound of his voice.

"Zedd, this is that last chance I promised you," Tommy spat through the communications channel.

A laugh filled the cockpit of both the Falconzord and the Ninjazord. Kim shuddered at it, memories of the abuses at Zedd's hands filling her mind.

"You can't end me White Ranger… none of your precious teams has ever been able to defeat me. You would need to kill me to stop me… and your code, Zordon's outdated moral code has kept you from destroying me over and over…"

"You forget something Zedd," replied Tommy, his voice dark. "Zordon's dead, just like the countless rangers you had murdered. And me… well, I'm a whole new man, so to speak. And to save the Earth, my team … Kim from you again… I have no problems wiping you from the galaxy."

A small beeping sound caught the attention of the rangers still in the Ninjazord. Jason looked down and saw the scrolling message from Tommy: 'fire all weapons at Zedd's ship – now.'

Without replying over the open channel, Jason flipped the switches for every single weapon they had on board, even siphoning whatever spare power from the life support they had to add extra energy to the lasers before he pressed the 'fire' button with a silent prayer/curse combination.

Instantly a barrage of weapons flew through the airless boundaries of space and struck Zedd's ship; explosions beginning to go off as the ship was impacted by the firepower being poured at it. Zedd hadn't realized that Tommy had meant what he'd said – they weren't playing with kid gloves any longer. Tommy immediately followed suit, firing every rocket in his arsenal and draining his laser power.

Zedd's crew was unprepared for the speed and ferocity of the ranger's attack, and the firepower behind their weapons cut through the ship's shields rapidly after the bombardment kept going without end. Zedd tried to order them to retreat, realizing that his memories of the first Tommy, Kimberly and other rangers were flawed by time and these resurrected rangers new lives.

In effect, they'd been reborn into the world as he'd allowed it to be recreated, causing them to be more resilient and willing to use deadly force to protect themselves and the people on the planet. His defeat was in a way his own fault. He had inadvertently made these rangers more deadly that ever before; made them able to kill him.

There were screams throughout his ship as the engine room caught fire and the bridge began to tilt as the metal around it began to buckle and twist under power of the blasts warping it.

Then the blast erupted from the power core, sending explosions and fire up and down the corridors of the ship, igniting anything it touched. Moments later communications were gone and Zedd, his ship and anyone on board were gone in a silent thunderclap of a detonation; pieces of Zedd's monstrous ship hurtling through space with the force of the destruction. Kim and Tommy took immediate evasive measures, avoiding the largest of the pieces sailing through space.

As soon as the worst of it was past, Tommy simply sat in his cockpit, pondering the choices he and his predecessors had made. Deciding to kill Zedd, the people he had in the ships… it was a decision that might haunt him, but it was war… and he would never allow Lord Zedd to survive to blackmail Earth and its people or kill rangers ever again.

He silently piloted the Falconzord back to dock with the Ninjazord, entering the main control room where the rest of the team sat in their positions. Kim got up from the seat that was his and moved to catch his hand in hers, gripping it tightly before breaking away and moving back to her own seat. Sitting down, Tommy turned his helmeted head to Adam and nodded, indicating the Blue Ranger should open the communications channels once again – but this time they were contacting home.

"Alpha?" Tommy said through the open comm. channel, breaking the silence that filled the control room of the MegaNinjazord.

"Yes Tommy," the robotic assistant to generations of rangers before and after him replied after a long moment as the transmission made its way from space near the moon to Earth.

"Zedd's down and out. Let Lt. Cranston know that it's his people's turn now… the power rangers have done their part."

"Understood," Lt Cranston replied as his voice replaced Alpha's across the ranger's transmission. "We're working on broadcasting it everywhere now. Our people will be coming out of hiding very soon and stepping in to take over. If you would be able to return and join us when we disband the Global Government… I think the people would find it a great day to see the Power Rangers helping change their world."

Tommy looked to the others in the MegaNinjazord and they all nodded or gave thumbs up.

"All right… we'll join you wherever you need us. Have Alpha give us the location and time. Tommy out."

-End ch 9-

Additional author's note: 1. sorry for the delay… RL sucks. 2. just an FYI for anyone wondering, I have been assuming the movie zords and armor in this story, as I feel they're a better (i.e. real) representation of ranger gear compared to some of the less 'technical' looking stuff (i.e. spandex uniforms) in the TV shows.


	11. Shining a Light

11/6/09

Summary: With Zedd gone, the rangers have accomplished their part of the task to save Earth… now The Center steps in.

Hi all. I am SO sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out. Author's pathetic excuse (if you care) will follow the story. Anyhow - Following the destruction of Zedd and his ship, the yoke is lifted of Earth. But how do you rebuild a world? And now, to the story…

-x-

Chapter 10: Shinning a Light

Tommy and the team returned to Angel Grove and the Command Center, their zords slightly worse for wear, but everyone was still in one piece. The war was won, Zedd was gone – but there was so much uncertainty left behind that happiness and a victory lap wasn't really in the cards.

"Shut them down and let's see what's next," announced Tommy across the open channel as the zords returned to the docking bay.

After everyone had landed and powered down both their zords and their uniforms, the team moved en masse towards the elevator. Tiredness showed in their steps, with Kim wrapping her arm around Tommy's waist, Adam and Aisha nearly braced by one another and Jason and Zack shuffling behind them all. Once in the elevator, they all leaned heavily against the walls, waiting until they arrived at the main command center.

When the doors opened, Alpha was there; his dented and tarnished metal greeting them as they disembarked.

"You're back!" cried Alpha in his ecstatic, robot voice as he moved to meet them. "Lt. Cranston and his forces have already left, but they left the coordinates for the Global Government's key location. He said he expects you to join them tomorrow to aid in the transition process. Until then – he left food for you."

Alpha pointed to the makeshift dining area that The Center forces had been kind enough to leave the teens, along with what seemed some pretty decent rations. Moving with renewed interest, the group made their way to the table to see what they'd been left.

There was meat. For the first time since they could remember arriving in this time, they had something besides protein bars. There was a tray filled with cold pieces of what might have been pork or beef ribs. There was fruit and a salad of some kind, filled with leafy greens and vegetables. Lt. Cranston's people had left behind a veritable feast.

With the food before them, they stumbled into the chairs, digging into the food as their stomachs rumbled in complaint for having been neglected. Right now, there was no directive to help the world; the rangers were simply going to take the opportunity to decompress from dealing with Zedd and just have something to eat.

"So, they want us to help…" trailed off Adam as he tried to wrap his mind around Lt. Cranston's request again, rib in hand before it made its way to his mouth.

"Seems that way, based on Lt. Cranston's message," Kim offered unenthusiastically, a camp fork in her hand as she speared some of the lettuce on her plate.

"But what exactly are we supposed to do?" asked Aisha before she took a drink from the water bottle she had picked up.

"Be figureheads?" Zack offered up, his mouth partially full of vegetables.

"That seems impractical," remarked Jason, taking a moment from his food to comment. "We don't have any skills or know anything about this time we're in…"

"But it might have always been their plan. I mean, they did clone us to save the world, which we did," Tommy replied, munching on the piece of fruit in his hand. "Now that it's over, we're still their symbol of freedom."

"What if we don't want to be that?" asked Adam, bringing them back to the painful point that they all had dealt with in some manner since waking up in the warehouse what seemed months ago…

They had all been rangers before, had been cloned to fight and save this world. They had their memories of before, of other battles. Now that they'd destroyed Zedd, what was really their role? Did they even belong here?

Tommy shrugged, chewing on the last pieces of meat on his bone as his eyes fell on the others. He didn't know what they were going to do next… but they would figure it out as a team. Like always.

"How about we cross that bridge tomorrow. For now, let's eat and get some rest," he offered.

"You mean you want to drag Kim back to bed?" Jason joked with a smirk.

Aisha and Zack both gave Tommy and Kim a look of surprise, and Adam simply smiled.

"That's none of your business," Tommy shot back.

"Kim?" Aisha ventured, hoping for some dish from her friend.

"We're sharing a bed," she began, and then purposefully enunciated the next part of her statement, "to sleep! You guys need to get your heads out of the gutter. And I don't know about you all, but I'm tired. We got woken up last time we fell asleep by Zedd…"

"Okay then," Zack offered, his hands rising to placate the irate pink ranger, "moving on… who's on clean up duty?"

-x-

Once the group had cleaned the dishes and utensils they'd been left, they headed back down to the personal rooms they'd used just the night before to get some more rest. All eyes followed Tommy and Kim as they moved to the white ranger's room. Kim gave them all a glare, and Tommy guided Kim inside before shutting the door firmly.

Tommy sat heavily on the bed and took off his shoes. The weight of everything they'd done, that he'd done finally crashing in on him. He'd killed Lord Zedd. It was big… they'd always ended the fight, never escalated without being provoked and never killed.

Until now.

Kimberly came and knelt on the bed beside him, her hand threading through his hair. She could feel the anxiety radiating off him like a heater.

"You okay?"

He shook his head and turned to face her. "Not really. You know I hated Zedd. All the things he did… and I have to wonder if I would have done what I did today… killed him outright if we weren't here, in this wacked out future place instead of where, what we used to be… does that make sense?"

She gave him a tentative smile. There was no way that she couldn't fault him for anything he'd done. If she'd been in his position, she probably would have wanted to have done it personally, and up close.

"Yes. I get it. It's still hard trying to reconcile my memories of then and now… I see Angel Grove and I expect to see the youth center, the high school… the places we know and when I do there's nothing there."

"We don't really belong here," Tommy added quietly, expressing the feelings that all of them had displayed at one time or another since they'd been woken up in the warehouse.

"But we are here. And we have to make the best out of it. But it doesn't mean we have to be this…" Kim replied, her hand waving around them at the room, referencing the command center and their status as rangers.

"What else can we do? We're still teenagers, really. No skills, and we've all seen what this world is like… how are we supposed to live here?"

"We're Power Rangers. We frackin' saved the earth. Don't you think they owe us something resembling a normal life?"

Tommy slid his eyes away from her for a moment, pondering the thought. He didn't remember the life that he'd led before – marrying Kim and having kids. But knowing that he'd had that before made him wonder if he could have it again; that whatever happened in that past life could be his here, in this new world.

"We should ask the others what they think tomorrow before we get to the Global Government base," Kim added, making Tommy swing his gaze back to meet hers.

"I know Adam is going to agree with you."

Kim gave him a slightly puzzled look, prompting him to sigh. It seemed that as leader everyone felt the desire to confide in him, even if they didn't share with everyone else. He was reminded again how glad he was that he had Kim to talk to.

"He kinda thinks The Center fracked with us… cloning us to fight their war and all. I think he wants it to be over. Jason and Zack haven't gone as far as to say the same, but I think they sort of feel like we've already paid our dues once…"

"So tomorrow, we'll discuss with the others what we're going to do? What we're going to say to Lt. Cranston and the rest if they ask us for more help…"

"Yeah. But right now," Tommy said lightly, reaching over to cup Kim's cheek and guide her closer to him, "let's get some sleep."

With that, he placed a soft, warm kiss on her lips, letting himself relax under the feel of her beside him. With the last of his will power, he broke the kiss and crawled up the bed, guiding Kim to follow. He lay on his side, spooning with the petite woman in his arms as he closed his eyes and steadied his breathing, letting the comfort he found in her closeness lull him to sleep as she snuggled back into his chest and drifted off as well.

-x-

When sunrise arrived, Lt. Cranston had his men start securing the Global Government headquarters as soon as they passed the first gates. Once inside, he knew they had three areas to assess: the main council chamber, the control room and the underground holding area. Masses of people flooded the facility, arresting and removing anyone that they found as they planned the purge and reassessment of all the people within the Global Government.

With others dealing with the control room and other non-vital areas, Lt. Cranston took a team to the council chamber. Not surprisingly, it was empty. None of the leaders of the government believed they would get a fair trial, let alone be kept around. He sighed and ran a hand down his face. It meant he'd have to spare resources hunting them down.

After he'd directed one of the corporals to take a team and locate the addresses of the council members and track them down, he focused on the last location in the building he wanted to oversee personally: the holding cells. His people began going through the labyrinth of cells, locating a variety of prisoners, including Center member James Oliver. While the two had never met, The Center member and direct descendent of two of the original rangers made him a contemporary for Cranston and had been instrumental in putting the rangers on the path to saving the world once again.

"About time," growled the older Oliver as two Center soldiers helped him out of his cell. "I guess our returned ancestors got the job done?"

"They did indeed," Lt. Cranston replied as he looked at the man who bore some aged resemblance to the Tommy Oliver he'd gotten to know briefly. "They'll be here in a few hours… I assume you'd like to greet them?"

"You guessed right."

"I'll see to it. For now, they'll take you someplace more comfortable," Lt. Cranston stated as he smiled slightly, and turned back to the tasks at hand. Taking the remainder of his detail, he headed back upstairs, knowing that the rest of their 'guests' were on their way. He quickly made his way through the building, headed outside.

At the gate, new vehicles were rolling into the base, carrying the underground VIPs of The Center's organization, including scientists, politicians and other disaffected educated men and women. Among them was the one person who had been instrumental in seeing this day become reality and whom Lt. Cranston took his direction.

Lt. Cranston saluted when Dr. Stuart Masterson, tall Caucasian man with graying hair exited the old humvee. He was a former political leader and scientist, and had been a vocal voice against the Global Government. And he was a very knowledgeable scientist – in the field of cloning. It had been his understanding, specifications and instructions that had allowed the DNA of the rangers to be cloned, bringing back the teens to the planet; his actions in creating them having saved them all.

Everyone within The Center expected him to take the lead in the new interim government. They all knew he had been planning for years the blueprint to rebuild the world anew. Countries would all be given back their rights, with the recreation of the UN; states and cities would begin to rebuild. New policies for food and water would be enacted; jobs would be created with the new building and revitalization of the planet.

Desalinization plants were first on the agenda of facilities scheduled to be built, at least one would be erected along every coast. The new, fresh water they would produce would revitalize the ecology; farming and raising livestock would no longer have to compete for resources as they had before. Within a year, twice the number of crops could be harvested; more meat would be available. And with that, increases in 'rations'.

They knew he figured within five years they could resume a fully free market society as more people were able to work in the less restricted and increasingly better circumstances freedom from the Global Government afforded the world.

But it had to start with baby steps.

"Lieutenant," Dr. Masterson said as he acknowledged the military man who had led the fighting cells that had continued to dog the Global Government for decades while they waited for the moment of liberation.

"Sir. It's good to see you."

"Likewise. We have a lot to do… let's herd everyone inside and get to work."

"Of course… the rangers have yet to arrive…"

"They've been busy," Dr. Masterson said simply, giving the younger man a slight grin. "And I think we're all more than willing to wait on them, considering…"

"Yes sir. I'll show you to the council chambers so you can start the planning meeting and then wait for their arrival."

With that, Lt. Cranston waved the new leader of the newly freed world forward, the next small step in rebuilding a world.

-x-

Everyone was anxiously awaiting the rangers when they finally arrived at the Global Government compound in the jeep James had lent them. As they were escorted into the facility, they passed soldiers and common looking people who all seemed to stare at them in awe. It wasn't until they finally were brought to the main building that they were met by a familiar face, Lt. Cranston was standing at the doorway, another man beside him that none of the team had expected to see again…

"James!" called out the teens, moving in a group to surround the older man who had not only given them an insight into their other selves past, but given them a refuge for a night.

"Are you all right?" asked Kim as she reached a hand tentatively to catch his hand, seeing the remnants of the bruising from when Captain Dell had slapped him.

"Fine," he said as he shrugged off Kim and Aisha's concern. "Good to see you all again. Looks like you did your ancestors proud, huh?"

"We did our best," Jason interjected, making James grin.

"Not like you could do anything else but. You are after all chips of the block…"

The rangers paused at that… another reminder of their duplicate status digging into their thoughts and souls. The discussion as they'd prepared to leave for the Global Government's headquarters had been at times heated, at times painful. But they'd addressed their feelings on what they all seemed to want next. Now they had to see if they could have it.

"The new council is waiting," Lt. Cranston stated, and the teens looked away from James to the military leader of The Center.

With Tommy in the lead, the rangers followed Lt. Cranston into the building. He led them along the corridors, the teens again being pinned with admiring and shocked looks. Finally they arrived at a large door that Lt. Cranston knocked loudly on before opening with a hard shove. Inside, the team could see a large table surrounded by a variety of people; men and women of varying races and sizes looked up from their focus before them to turn and regard the rangers.

Dr. Masterson quickly rose when he saw the rangers walk in. He had never seen them before Tommy's televised announcement, but could recognize the confidence, the authority within all of them as they entered the room.

As he stood, the other people at the table as well as the others in the room did as well, surprising the rangers. The man moved from his place behind the table to walk directly in front of them, his hands hanging loosely at his sides and the expression on his face seemed open and pleased.

"Rangers, I am overwhelmed at this chance to thank you all personally for everything you have done for us. Your return, your victory has allowed this moment of change to happen. We're all in your debt, once again."

"So, what now?" Tommy questioned, looking to see what this new government, The Center's best and brightest expected of six teenagers.

"We'd like to you stay and help with the transition. There's always a need for rangers," Dr. Masterson said simply, his face looking expectant now.

"But…" Adam began, looking to Tommy to help.

"We already did this," Tommy said quickly, jumping in to make their desires clear. "We were rangers before… you created us to save you. We did that."

"We still need you…" Dr. Masterson insisted.

"Why us? You could handpick anyone to be rangers now. The Command Center can be cleared and rebuilt. It doesn't have to be us," Jason explained, adding his voice to the discussion.

"It's not fair – we served our time," Aisha offered as explanation, hoping to be heard.

"You're rangers… it's your jobs…" Lt. Cranston interjected, leading everyone in the room to look at him.

"Our jobs?" Zack said in a scoffing tone before looking away in annoyance.

"We didn't ask for this – the first time or this time," complained Kimberly, pointing a finger at the men before them. "You brought us back, shoved us into your battle to fix everything. And we did what you wanted. Now can't we have some peace?"

Dr. Masterson and Lt. Cranston both looked to the teens and then to one another. There were plenty of people with the skills to fix things. It would take time, but to ask the rangers to do more than they already had…

"No, you're right. You have earned that. Obviously several times over," Dr. Masterson stated, alluding to the fact that all these rangers had served and saved the world before. "The least we can do is offer you a life free of battle."

"And we'd like your assurance that Angel Grove will be rebuilt," added Tommy, startling not only the men and women of The Center, but the rest of his team as well.

"I…" stammered the new leader of the temporary government.

"The ranger's home has been Angel Grove. And even though we're rangers, it was our home before we were rangers too. We'd like to go back… start fresh. You have to reinforce the Command Center anyway," Tommy explained.

Dr. Masterson looked back to his colleagues. Among them were engineers and architects. There were so many other needs… but could they really deny these teens, these rangers their home again?

"We'll get some crews to start rebuilding. Mr. Oliver," Dr. Masterson said, looking past Tommy to James, "perhaps you'd be willing to help out with researching and relocating any Angel Grove families who survived?"

"More than happy to," replied James, looking to the teens in front of him.

"In the meantime… since there aren't any services in Angel Grove, we can arrange for somewhere for you to stay…" Dr. Masterson began, looking at the young yet old faces before him.

"We can stay at the Command Center until new rangers can be chosen and trained. By then, hopefully Angel Grove will be well on its way to being restored?" suggested Jason, looking to Tommy and the others, seeing their agreement.

"I can't see any reason why not. As you said, it is your home. We'll have a crew start clearing and repairing the facility immediately. As well, everything else you might need – food, water, clothing… we will be sure to provide it. You've earned that, and so much more."

"Thank you," said Kim sincerely, her hand moving to lie on Tommy's arm.

"No, as I said before, it's we who are in your debt. You've served this world twice now… you deserve the chance to choose your own paths. However, if you ever wish to join us, help…"

"That will be up to the team to decide individually. For now though… I think we'd just like some peace and quiet."

"Understood. Lt. Cranston will get you an escort back to Angel Grove with any provisions you need. Thank you again," Dr. Masterson said, moving forward to extend his hand to Tommy.

Tommy took it and shook it briefly before moving back to stand with the others. Lt. Cranston then moved to wave the team towards the door.

At that, Tommy looked to Kim and then to the others before saying, "alright guys, let's go home."

-End-

Thank you all for reading. There may be an epilogue, showing what happens to our team in the future but I am not sure. As I stated above, my only excuse for the delay in this chapter was being diagnosed with frozen shoulder in October, which has made moving my right arm unfun, so typing is not on the top of the list of things I want to do. However, I wanted to get this out to you all, and at least give it some kind of wrap-up. Thanks – Ms. J.


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